XII BIENNIAL OF YOUNG ARTISTS FROM EUROPE AND THE MEDITERRANEAN – NAPOLI 2005

19 – 28 September 2005

 The aim of the XII edition of the Biennial of Young Artists from Europe and the Mediterranean was to underline the role of Naples as Mediterranean crossroads and big European capital.

In a time in which cultural, religious and economical differences continued to divide the peoples instead of bringing them together, the Biennial intended to be a place where civilizations can meet, even if in a short time. According to this line, the edition was focused on the participation of South Mediterranean artists, underlining the ancient ties with the city.

The theme chosen by the organizers was Passion, one of the main features of Neapolitan life.

The theme was divided according to seven possible meanings, one per each artistic area: Temptations (the thrust of passion) for Applied Arts, Ideals (the exaltation of passion) for Images on the Move, Conflict (the struggle between passion) for Dance and Theatre shows, Communication (the exchange of passion) for Literature and Poetry, Attraction (the tie of passion) for Visual Arts, Fear (the other side of passion) for Music and Discovering the passion for Gastronomy.

Moreover, to assure the quality of the different activities and to determine the cultural lines of the Biennial, a Scientific Committee, comprised of Italian personalities, was appointed: Achille Bonito Oliva (President), Eduardo Cicelyn (Scientific Director), Rossella Guarracino (Executive Manager), Angela Tecce, Stefano DeCaro, Enrico Guglielmo, Pietro Guzzo, Gioacchino Lanza Tomasi, Maria Rosaria De Divitiis, Guido Trombetti, Pasquale Ciriello, Gennaro Ferrara, Francesco De Sanctis, Enrico Auricchio, Alfredo Scotti and Aurora Spinosa.

Theme: Passion

The theme chosen for this edition was Passion, meant as a complex background of feelings and behaviors. This subject seems to entirely seize the heterogeneous identity of Mediterranean and Europe, which tries to widen its boundaries towards the right direction of a coexistence of differences.

In such a moment, when the emotional side of every passion seems to prevail up to nihilism, this Biennial gives a constructive response, providing a constructive and creative meaning to the word passion.

It really seems that the city of Naples represent the natural theatre of such an event, since today the city seems to suggest a way to canalize passion in terms of cultural project open towards the social activity.

Numbers

Almost 700 artists from 22 Countries (Albania, Algeria, Bosnia-Herzegovina, Croatia, Cyprus, Finland, France, FYROM, Greece, Jordan, Kosovo, Italy, Malta, Portugal, Republic of San Marino, Slovenia, Serbia and Montenegro, Spain, Turkey, Egypt, Israel, Palestine) participated to the Biennial, among them more than 250 came from the Southern Mediterranean Coast.

More than 30.000 people attended the event.

Among the artists who participated, to be signaled the following ones: Artists without walls, group of Israeli and Palestine visual artists, Luther Blisset, collective of video-artists from Venice, Giorgio Andreotta Calò, performer and light designer from Venice, Zhe Xu, performer from France, Gianluca and Massimiliano De Serio, film-makers from Naples and Rami Farah, video-maker from Syria.

Venues

Castel Sant’Elmo
 was the venue of the Biennial, an ancient castle and fortress on the top hill of the city that during the event became the transnational, multimedia and multicultural Citadel of Creativity.

This edition of the Biennial was followed by several side activities: the Biennial Off, which offered a rich program of music, art and theatre on the whole Provincia di Napoli and the publishing of the Literary City Guide, a guide of Naples according to famous Neapolitan writers starting from the XIX century. 

 

 

 

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