International Museum and Library of Music of Bologna – EVENTS HALL
12 October 2023, 6.00 pm – Event on reservation
Sound MAP is a multidisciplinary and multimedia performance inspired by the harmonic and rhythmic gestures of the ancient Chinese calligraphic art form. The generative process, from the silence of the gesture to the sound of the images, is represented through the particular intertwining of the different disciplines: the performative act of Chinese calligraphy, music, dance and the digital.
An original musical notational system, created specifically by the calligrapher Silvio Ferragina, is used as the material on which the composition was generated as well as the piano and dance improvisations are grafted, preceded by a purely performative moment of the piece by the Chinese composer Zhenzhen Zhang .
Together, motion sensors will be used to track the gestures of the artists and the calligrapher’s brush in order to restore to the public the magical correlation between visual sign and gesture, between rhythm and choreography, between silence and acoustic sound and electronic sound. The fascinating fusion between Eastern and Western cultures, between the tradition of an ancient art form such as Chinese calligraphy, and the digital, will lead the audience towards a unique performance that will overcome the boundaries between the present, the past and the future and will redefine the identity of INK in relation to contemporary performance art.
Luo Qi – Professor of Calligraphy at the China Academy of Art (CAA) in Hangzhou and Director of the “Calligraphyism Research Center” at the College of Fine Arts in Yangzhou University. He is the founder and the leading figure of the post-modern calligraphy movement called “Calligraphyism”, formed in Mainland China in 1992, that attempts to transform Chinese calligraphy into a contemporary idiom. He was the curator and organizer of 13 exhibitions on Calligraphyism around the world. He is a one of the most important calligrapher and artist who experiments with new forms of calligraphy in the fields of painting, installation, photography, body painting, fashion design, etc. He has had numerous major exhibitions across the globe, for example at Louvre, National Art Museum of China (NAMOC), Brera Academy, Tokyo Art Museum, National Gallery of Art, etc. He is the author and editor of more than 30 books about Chinese calligraphy and art. In 2017 and 2018 two of his books was proclaimed “the most beautiful art books published in China”. He also won a painting award at the Third Florence International Contemporary Art Biennial and “the International Art Contribution Award” at Prince of Songkla University (Thailand). He is editor-in-chief of three specialized journals. He is the founder and director of the “Asia & African and Mediterranean International Modern Art Association” (AAmA). For AAmA he organized 18 international art exhibitions that gathered hundreds of artists from more than 50 countries around the world.
Silvio Ferragina – Artist calligrapher of Eastern formation active in the panorama of contemporary experimental Asian calligraphy, he has emerged on the scene of important exhibitions of calligraphy. In addition to an artistic production of classical inspiration, which uses techniques and styles of traditional Chinese calligraphy, he engages in works of taste and contemporary flavor, which allowed him to return fully within the fold of calligraphic experimentation of today. In his works, the Chinese character comes to life in three-dimensional structures and the calligraphic sign is transposed into sound, thus achieving a transformation from calligraphic works into “multidisciplinary musical works”.
Zhenzhen Zhang – A dynamic composer and pianist in contemporary music and research. During her earlier music career she achieved numerous worldwide prizes, Including first place in The 8th International Composition Competition in Luxembourg, second Place in 18th International Composition competition “ 2 Agosto ” in Bologna, fourth place in The Molinari Quartet’s 4th International Composition Competition in Montréal and The 4th Palatino International Composition Competition in Beijing. Later, she conducted research on Chinese diaspora composers (i.e. Dun Tan, Chou Wen-Chung, Xiaoyong Chen…).China National Art Fund and SCAA Fund have rewarded her First prizes in outstanding artists 2012 & 2010.
Giusy Caruso – A concert pianist and postdoctoral researcher focused on studying human-machine interaction (HMI) for the creation of futuristic multimedia formats and music performance analysis. Chairwoman of the CREATIE research group at Royal Conservatoire Antwerp and affiliated researcher at IPEM-Ghent University, she is Official Music Advisor of the LWT3 Performing Arts Lab Milan. Renowned interpreter of contemporary music repertory, she is pursuing her concert activity in Europe, Asia, Russia and America, taking part into Radio and TV shows. She released CDs acclaimed in worldwide music reviews. Among other international awards, Dr. Caruso received together with LWT3 team the first S+T+Arts Prize Honorary Mention 2023 for the project ‘MetaPhase: a contrapuntal dialogue between a pianist and her avatar in the metaverse.
Agnese Gabrielli – A dancer and performer based in Bologna. She graduated in 2019 from Civica Scuola di Teatro Paolo Grassi, where she deepened different movement techniques with national and international choreographers such as Elie Tass from Les Ballet C de la B, Julie Anne Stanzak from Tanztheater Wuppertal, Biagio Caravano, Paola Lattanzi and many others. Since 2020 she has been a performer in several shows such as Party Girl by Francesco Marilungo, Il Lunedì by Ina Christel Jhoannensen, Rizoma by Sharon Fridman. She is currently a performer in the show Paradiso, by the Italian research dance company Gruppo Nanou. The work does not create hierarchies between body music and dance, which are in constant dialogue in a continuous construction and deconstruction of space and time. Since 2020 she has been studying Pedagogy at Alma Mater Studiorum in Bologna, and her personal research focuses on an in-depth study of techniques and tools that bring together body expression and educational experience. In 2023 she begins a personal path of choreographic research entitled “Labirinto,” in which a fundamental requirement is the encounter and shared research with young adolescents.
LWT3 – An innovative company founded by Eng. Paolo Belluco, PhD (20+ years in sensors, biosignals and data analysis fields) and designer Samuele Polistina (20+ years UX/UI, product design and data visualization). With expertise in data analysis, visualization, IoT infrastructure development, and human-machine interaction solutions, LWT3 works in their Data Driven Performance Lab in Milano across three pillars: Industries workers, Sport Science, and Music and Performing Arts. In particular, their mission is to design, to develop and to integrate new technologies and methods of interaction in the world of music and performing arts.
INFO AND RESERVATIONS: http://www.museibologna.it/musica
The performance will take place during the inauguration of the exhibition “Sounds of Ink: Luo Qi and 30 years of Calligraphyism”. Event connected and financed by the European Project WRITE – New Forms of Calligraphy in China: A Contemporary Culture Mirror (GA. 949645).
Click here to watch the short video of the performance: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=1tXrIdYPCqM&feature=youtu.be
