To mark the first edition of AVANT FESTIVAL, scheduled for 17–18 July 2021, the following will be on display at the Castello Volante in Corigliano d’Otranto (LE), ‘Le planète sauvage’, an installation by photographer and visual artist Sara Scanderebech, curated by Rosita Ronzini, will come to life.
The photographic work takes the form of a narrative exploring the flora and fauna of Salento, the homeland of the artist Sara Scanderebech, and aims to subvert the conventional visual imagery of Salento, moving away from the commercial stereotypes with which this region is often associated. The visual and audio installation, designed for the space of Corigliano d’Otranto Castle, features photographic images rendered on various scales, to the extent that the complete form of each subject is lost, giving rise to a new, visionary, post-human appearance.
The installation forms part of a programme of concerts and other activities, and is inspired by the animated film of the same name, released in the United States in 1973, the result of a collaboration between the French director René Laloux and the multi-talented artist Roland Topor. The two create a visual universe that blends the surrealism of Salvador Dalí with the esoteric and bizarre imagery of Hieronymus Bosch, and the film is one of the earliest examples of a film to introduce the theme of anti-speciesism, overturning the traditional view that the human species is the most evolved – and therefore the most important – of all species.
The photographs in the series *Le planète sauvage* are close-ups, offering a sensitive and curious gaze that allows us to rediscover, up close, the arid yet vibrant natural world between sea and land. A close encounter with the natural world, an invitation to explore a microcosm where plants and animals inhabit an unknown planet, and where the viewer’s human presence is subsumed into a process of spatial metamorphosis.
The exhibition, organised in collaboration with Cinema del reale and Castello Volante – a multidisciplinary workshop for the production of images, sounds and visions – in the heart of Grecìa Salentina, will be accompanied by a soundtrack of ambient sounds and site-specific voices. The photographic exhibition opens at 8.00 pm on Saturday 17 July and is included in the price of the festival ticket (admission from €16 – tickets available via the DICE.FM network). Further information on the festival programme can be found at www.avantfestival.com, facebook.com/avantfestival.southitaly and instagram.com/avant_festival.
This edition of the festival is supported, sponsored and/or co-organised by numerous public and private partners who have embraced the organisation’s approach. First and foremost, Digital In Berlin, the festival’s main partner; the Austrian Cultural Forum in Rome and the Goethe-Institut in Naples, which promote the festival’s international artistic vision and organisational standards; MIXOLOGY, 4 Balconi B&B, 18° Meridiano, Arten Events, MUNDI Festival, Environ, Mexico 70 Record Shop, and the Tito Schipa Conservatoire in Lecce are just some of the regional and national partners taking part in the project. The media partners involved are the Italian electronic music magazine *Soundwall*, the alternative music magazines *ZERO*, *Kalporz* and *Sentireascoltare*, and the lifestyle magazine *FACE Magazine*.