News
16-12-2023
THE WATER JOURNEY - Presentation of the 2024 Theme
Curatorial Paper
Water is what we are made of and simultaneously what nourishes us: the tear that falls, the maternal liquid, the vital sap. A substance that finds its balance in change, a fluid capable of rapidly transforming into ice and snow, infiltrating the bowels of the earth or dispersing into the atmosphere in the form of vapor, clouds, mist. Water mixes, drags, transports: it is the flowing river, the ocean to cross, the puddle to jump on. Water is rain.
Sardinia, since ancient times, has experienced the alternation between periods of drought and periods of rain. The worship of water in the ancient Nuragic civilizations has been interpreted as a religious projection of an existential and economic necessity that historically belongs to this island. This necessity, in more recent history, has led to the construction of dams and artificial basins on the island, among the largest in Europe.
As Emily Dickinson wrote, "water, is taught by thirst", and periods of drought are when the value of this resource is most recognized. The year 2024 began for Sardinia with a fifth less water than the previous year, and a water emergency was imminent. At the time of writing, the situation has changed, with the territory experiencing abundant rains. It is in this uncertain and unpredictable circunstances that we choose to celebrate water.
We want to reflect on the connection of Sardinian territories and communities with this element, starting from the places of the residency. It is the presence of water, in fact, that millennia ago led a population to settle in the lands where the town of Milis now stands, in one of the most fertile areas of the island. And it is the watery fruits of citrus orchards that have sustained the communities of this territory.
Expanding the view, there are multiple forms of water that characterize the Sardinian landscape: the water that gushes from natural sources, nourishing streams in the inland areas, the one that evaporates warm and steamy in the still-existing natural hot springs on the island, a contemporary sign of the 32 extinct volcanoes millions of years ago. The water collected in the artificial basins of the nearby Lake Omodeo, the same water that extinguished the recent painful fires in the Montiferru mountains. And of course the salty water surrounding the Sardinian coasts, a landing place for civilizations that influenced the culture of this territory, a space now impacted by millions of tourists concentrated in a few months each year.
The 2024 edition of Nocefresca proposes a physical voyage to discover some of the existing forms of water in nature or designed by humans, which we will call with their names in Sardinian language:
Mitza (spring)
Funtana (fountain)
Rìu (river)
Mari (sea)
Lagu (lake)
Abba Callenti (hot water).
This path is also an invitation to embark on a journey of interior growth and evolution.
Refusing to reduce itself to a water mirror where one sees their reflection like Narcissus, art can certainly be nourishment for those who approach it, a means for those who want to go, a bridge for those trying to connect. The hope is that the creative paths of each participating artist, identifying with the changing essence of this medium, can move, flow and quench not only the artist themselves but also what is outside of them: places, people, things.
If art won’t heal us from diseases, as the ancients believed of water, let it at least nourish and remineralize our human paths and make our part of the world more fertile.
Mar 14th - Apr 11th
MITZA
Open studios: Apr 9th
Apr 15th - May 13th
FUNTANA
Open studios: May 11th
May 20th- Jun 17th
RIU
Open studios: Jun 15th
September 16th - October 14th
MARI
Open studios: Oct 12th
Oct 21st- Nov 18th
LAGU
Open studios: Nov 16th
Nov 20th- Dec 18th
ABBA CALLENTI
Open studios: Dec 16th
Sardinia, since ancient times, has experienced the alternation between periods of drought and periods of rain. The worship of water in the ancient Nuragic civilizations has been interpreted as a religious projection of an existential and economic necessity that historically belongs to this island. This necessity, in more recent history, has led to the construction of dams and artificial basins on the island, among the largest in Europe.
As Emily Dickinson wrote, "water, is taught by thirst", and periods of drought are when the value of this resource is most recognized. The year 2024 began for Sardinia with a fifth less water than the previous year, and a water emergency was imminent. At the time of writing, the situation has changed, with the territory experiencing abundant rains. It is in this uncertain and unpredictable circunstances that we choose to celebrate water.
We want to reflect on the connection of Sardinian territories and communities with this element, starting from the places of the residency. It is the presence of water, in fact, that millennia ago led a population to settle in the lands where the town of Milis now stands, in one of the most fertile areas of the island. And it is the watery fruits of citrus orchards that have sustained the communities of this territory.
Expanding the view, there are multiple forms of water that characterize the Sardinian landscape: the water that gushes from natural sources, nourishing streams in the inland areas, the one that evaporates warm and steamy in the still-existing natural hot springs on the island, a contemporary sign of the 32 extinct volcanoes millions of years ago. The water collected in the artificial basins of the nearby Lake Omodeo, the same water that extinguished the recent painful fires in the Montiferru mountains. And of course the salty water surrounding the Sardinian coasts, a landing place for civilizations that influenced the culture of this territory, a space now impacted by millions of tourists concentrated in a few months each year.
The 2024 edition of Nocefresca proposes a physical voyage to discover some of the existing forms of water in nature or designed by humans, which we will call with their names in Sardinian language:
Mitza (spring)
Funtana (fountain)
Rìu (river)
Mari (sea)
Lagu (lake)
Abba Callenti (hot water).
This path is also an invitation to embark on a journey of interior growth and evolution.
Refusing to reduce itself to a water mirror where one sees their reflection like Narcissus, art can certainly be nourishment for those who approach it, a means for those who want to go, a bridge for those trying to connect. The hope is that the creative paths of each participating artist, identifying with the changing essence of this medium, can move, flow and quench not only the artist themselves but also what is outside of them: places, people, things.
If art won’t heal us from diseases, as the ancients believed of water, let it at least nourish and remineralize our human paths and make our part of the world more fertile.
Mar 14th - Apr 11th
MITZA
Open studios: Apr 9th
Apr 15th - May 13th
FUNTANA
Open studios: May 11th
May 20th- Jun 17th
RIU
Open studios: Jun 15th
September 16th - October 14th
MARI
Open studios: Oct 12th
Oct 21st- Nov 18th
LAGU
Open studios: Nov 16th
Nov 20th- Dec 18th
ABBA CALLENTI
Open studios: Dec 16th
