Practice-based Masterclass: immersion, inspiration and collaboration
CALL FOR PARTICIPANTS
Get immersed in the rich ethnographic reality of San Costantino Albanese, a rural town nestled in the breathtaking scenery of the Pollino National Park in Italy. Get inspired by film directors and sound artists working in the intersections between documentary, art and fiction. Collaborate on an original audiovisual ethnographic project to co-create a multimedia installation open to the local community and its visitors.
The applicants:
The summer school is aimed at people with a basic knowledge of media-making, who are recent graduates (within 2 years) or current MA, PhD and Postdocs in human geography, anthropology, ethnomusicology, sound studies, and similar disciplines. Registration is open to a maximum of 12 participants. The places will be equally shared between Italian nationals and international applicants.
Attendance, accommodation and food are provided by the school free of charge. Participants will have to make their own travel arrangements and bring the equipment they usually work with, be it video or audio, and a computer. Some specialised equipment will be available on loan from the school, so a lack of gear should not discourage any applicant.
The school will offer an allowance to support travel expenses for applicants from Global South countries for whom participation would otherwise be impossible for financial reasons. The awardees will be chosen by the School’s organizing team on the basis of a letter of motivation explaining in detail the financial reasons for such application (max 200 words).
The teaching team:
Pat Collins (4 days masterclass): award-winning Irish director, producer, and writer, known for his fascinating cinematic and experimental work offering unique snapshots of Ireland at the turn of the 21st century. Acclaimed for being one of Ireland’s most prolific directors, he has made more than 30 films, including both his rich documentary production and his dramatic feature films.
Leandro Pisano (1 day workshop): curator, writer and independent researcher interested in the intersections between art, sound and technoculture. His specific area of research is the political ecology of rural, marginal and remote territories.
Rossella Schillaci (1 day workshop): documentary filmmaker and anthropologist particularly interested in producing immersive storytelling trough the combination of observational filmmaking, new media, VR and animation.
Marco Lutzu (1 day workshop, editing supervision): ethnomusicologist, filmmaker and curator. He has carried out fieldwork in Sardinia, Cuba, and Equatorial Guinea focusing on the relationship between music and religion, improvised poetry, hip hop culture, and performance.
Steven Feld (screening and discussion): anthropologist, filmmaker, sound artist/performer. His research concerns the anthropology of sound, voice, senses, and media, incorporating linguistics and poetics, music and aesthetics, acoustics and ecology, film and photography.
The Organising and Teaching Support team:
Alexandra D’Onofrio documentary film director and community arts facilitator teaching co-creative art practices and ethnographic film at the Granada Centre for Visual Anthropology at the University of Manchester. Her research focuses on storytelling, migration and imagination.
Lorenzo Ferrarini filmmaker, photographer and sound recordist teaching ethnographic documentary at the Granada Centre for Visual Anthropology at the University of Manchester. His research focuses on hunting, ecological perception, the senses, sound, phenomenology and embodiment.
Nicola Scaldaferri ethnomusicologist, musician and associate professor at the University of Milan where he directs the Audiovisual Ethnography Lab (LEAV). Nicola was born in San Costantino Albanese where he continues to return to visit and to carry out research.
The programme:
The Summer School offers a two-week intensive training programme, from the 21st of July to the 2nd of August. During this time participants will receive specialised training from renown specialists working at the intersection of art and ethnography.
Participants will work collaboratively – pairing Italian nationals with international participants, to facilitate communication with locals. Each pair will produce an original mixed-media ethnographic project and create an exhibition where the final audiovisual work will be shared with the local community.
The setting:
Founded in the 16th century by Albanian refugees, San Costantino Albanese is an Arbëresh town where the language, Byzantine religious ritual, and musical traditions are lively identity elements. It has long fascinated writers, anthropologists, ethnomusicologists, and artists. In the 1950s, renowned anthropologist Ernesto De Martino documented the area’s unique cultural practices. Despite challenges like emigration, depopulation, and aging, the town thrives during holidays when emigrants return to enjoy its landscape and partake in its well-preserved customs. Participants in the summer school will immerse themselves in village life, staying in shared accommodation facilities near teaching venues.
Application procedure
Submit to alexandra.donofrio@manchester.ac.uk:
- a letter briefly outlining a current or planned research project, explaining how it speaks to the course (350 words)
- CV
- links to samples of previous audiovisual work (max 3)
- letter in case of application for travel support (200 words)
Deadline: 28th February. Decisions by 21 March.
The Audiovisual Ethnography Summer School in San Costantino Albanese is organised and promoted by Squilibri in collaboration with LEAV – AudioVisual Ethnography Lab at the University of Milan, the University of Cagliari, the Granada Centre for Visual Anthropology at the University of Manchester, as part of the project “Il Borgo dei Suoni”- Comune di S. Costantino Albanese – Regione Basilicata.
For students enrolled in the Master’s degree program in Music, Cultures, Media, Performance (MCMP) at the University of Milan, participation in the summer school is considered equivalent to attending a teaching workshop, with the awarding of 3 CFU (ECTS credits).
