Author: G. Velkov
Art residency 2022
“A/R Cagliari-Skopje”
Artists from Sardinia in the period from 18.09.2022 to 02.10.2022 stayed in the art residence of the “Makedonida” association, Atinska 2, Skopje, where they created their works and on 01.10.2022 they were shown at a final work exhibition in the premises of the residence. Also, the Macedonian artists from Skopje in the period from 02.10.2022 to 16.10.2022 stayed in the art residence of the Ottovolante Sulcis association, Sardinia and on 15.10 they presented their works of art in the City Gallery at the municipality of the city of Saint Antioch. Participants of this art residency were: Chiara Alexandra Young, Marco Manconi and Davide Mariani from Sardina, and Zoran Shekerov, Lina Damjan and Ana Spasova from Skopje. The artists organized a final exhibition on 28.11.2023 in the premises of the Museum of the City of Skopje. The exhibition “A/R Cagliari-Skopje” aimed to unite the works made during the 2022 Art Residency between the two places (Skopje/Sant Antioco, Sardinia). A/R (andata e ritorno; round trip) is a travel diary of artists, their ideas and confronting the novelties of the acquired experience. The goal of unifying the creation is to develop an idea of bringing together young artists through art, culture, diversity in living, but also similarities in culture and tradition in the regional frameworks of Europe that share common values. At the exhibition, the artists from both sides presented their research topics, the working title of which was “The Artist’s Diary”. The artists from Italy presented their works of art with content about Skopje and Skopje, while the artists from Skopje presented their works about the cities where they lived in Sardinia.
In her digital photographs, six in total, Chiara Alexandra Young presented the oldest religious monotheism against the mysticism of nature that is hidden in the “Vrelo” cave in the Matka canyon. In the direction of the search for the diverse history full of movable and immovable heritage in Skopje, her video alternated between digital photos with the same contents as if time and space were not important.
Marco Marconi in his work “sKarpos”, “SKarpos”, which in translation would be the scars of Karpos, in a collage of analog photographs presented sequences in architecture that represent construction works on residential, public buildings that create a new representation of the city and the settlement as well as for the people. Marco Marconi added the atmosphere of SKarposh with audio sounds whose minimalism of certain authentic sounds from the space together with the image created the atmosphere and melody of the work.
Davide Mariani, the third author from Sardinia presented himself with a video projection, analog photographs and frottages. All three media represented one work in terms of content that was complemented by the three techniques. The video in which the landscape changes from Karposh to the Old Skopje bazaar through the steps of the author. The video flows as if in one shot along with the authenticity of the urban noise. The six frottages are sketches of different asphalt surfaces that reveal the surface of the place in a slightly smaller format in a larger photo, while below them are miniature analog photos that show the wider urban frame of the frottage. The play between the earth and the steps, the buildings as a heritage and the urbanism of the city, the noise and the melody is the representation of today’s Skopje in the work of Mariani.
The Macedonian authors from Skopje – Ana Spasova and Lina Damjan, presented the experience from Sardinia under the almost identical title of their works.
“Afternoon in St. Antioco” by Ana Spasova is a cycle of digital photographs covering the places of St. Antioco, a small island in the south of Sardinia. The landscapes in the photographs reflect the island setting in the heart of the Mediterranean where the originality of colors and the simplicity of forms throughout history defy time and man, the unreal becomes real in one moment.
In her “Siesta” on three large formats of printed digital photos, Lina Damjan develops a concept that refers to the presence of man and nature in Sardinia and Saint Antioco. The animation of the drawing of the small car Seat Marbella is the sympathy, the drive with which curiosity moved between the exoticism of nature, culture and history.
The residencies were held within the European program TRAMEUROPEE with the support of Ottovalonte Silucis from Sardinia and Macedonia.
The exhibition in the Museum of the City of Skopje was supported by the national program of the Ministry of Culture, the Embassy of Italy in Skopje and the organizations Makedonida from Skopje and Ottovalonte from Sardinia.
The coordinator of the project was Gordana Velkov, an art historian
