8 albe, a project founded by Dimora delle Balze, is a Contemporary Art Overview, on an annual basis, that will develop three main thematic areas: nature, time and the dream world. With the creation of exhibition itineraries, video screenings and lectures organized in collaboration with different entities each time, 8 albe will explore, from year to year, the three main themes, all closely related to the place where this project was born and its natural composition.
Entrusted to the curatorship of Carolina Ciuti a contemporary art curator expert in video and director of the Spanish branch of the digital magazine exibart – the first edition will explore the concepts of ‘kinship’ and ‘coexistence’ between different species, starting with the spatial and temporal relationships that are generated in a more or less unexpected way between the animal and plant worlds.
The title takes its cue from the theory of the four elements of Empedocles of Agrigento, according to which nature cannot have only one constituent element, but rather four roots: water, air, earth, and fire. According to this theory, all changes that occur in nature are due to the mixing and separating of the four roots. In other words, both the animal world and the plant or mineral world are composed of a different aggregation of these elements. In an age characterized by climate change, remembering (and claiming!) this common origin (or root) therefore becomes a necessary act. So does making oneself responsible for this universal common kinship (to make kin).
Dimora delle Balze is an estate from the 1800s where time seems not to have passed. The property is located in eastern Sicily, on the Iblei plateau, in an extensive 27-hectare valley a few kilometers from Palazzolo Acreide, a town in the Val di Noto recognized in 2002 by UNESCO as a World Heritage Site. The location is steeped in history: an ancient gateway leads to a garden where there are some remains belonging to the old architecture and benches placed under a pergola supported by restored classical columns, overlooking the valley and the Manghisi River.
SS287, km 6/3 – Noto (SR)