Friday, 15 October, 4:00 pm – 6:00 pm
SCREENING & ARTIST TALK
(in collaboration with Teatro Ca’ Foscari Santa Marta)
Ila Bêka & Louise Lemoine (artists, Venice) in conversation with Miriam De Rosa (Università Ca’ Foscari Venezia) and Susanne Franco (Università Ca’ Foscari Venezia)
This event is inspired by the film series Homus Urbanus: A Citymatographic Odyssey (2018) by artist duo Bêka & Lemoine and offers a special focus on Venice through the film Homo Urbanus Venetianus. After the constraints of lockdown and social distancing that brutally reduced urban space to its strict minimum, where isolated individuals merely cohabit, this film offers a vibrant tribute to something we have been most cruelly deprived of: public space. Taking the form of a free-wheeling journey around the world (10 films, 10 cities), Homus Urbanus invites the viewer to observe in detail the multiple forms and complex interactions bonding people and their urban environments. The Venice film frames the city’s fragile balance, as well as its unique social and ecosystem, before the constant challenges of mass tourism and high tide.
Bêka & Lemoine, Homo Urbanus Venetianus, 2020. © Bêka & Lemoine
Bêka & Lemoine
have stood out on the architectural scene for the innovative nature of their cinematographic work, disrupting the usual representation of contemporary architecture by putting people at the forefront (The New York Times described them as ‘cult figures in the European architecture world’). Presented in major biennials and international events, such as the Venice Architecture Biennale, Oslo Architecture Triennale, and Performa New York, their films are also frequently exhibited in prestigious museums (e.g. MET, New York; Louisiana Museum of Modern Art, Copenhagen; Victoria & Albert Museum, London) and awarded by film festivals (e.g. CAFx, Copenhagen; DocAviv, Tel Aviv; ADFF, New York; AFFR, Rotterdam). Bêka & Lemoine have been invited as guest professors at GSAPP / Columbia University (New York), Domaine de Boisbuchet (France) HEAD in Geneva (Switzerland), and AA School in London.
Miriam De Rosa
researches film and space/place, experimental cinema, screen media arts and visual cultures. She teaches new media, media archaeology and visual cultures at Ca’ Foscari University of Venice, where she is Associate Professor in film and media. Her books include Cinema e Postmedia (2013), Postwhat? Postwhen? (2016), Gesture (2019), Film & Domestic Space (2020).
Susanne Franco
is Associate Professor at the Ca’ Foscari University of Venice, where she teaches Dance, Theatre and Performance Studies. She is currently the PI of the international research project ‘Memory in Motion: Re-Membering Dance History’ (2019–2022). Among here publications: Moving Spaces: Rewriting Museology Through Practice (with Gabriella Giannachi, 2021), Dance Discourses: Keywords in Dance Research (2007), and the forthcoming The Oxford Handbook of Dance and Memory (with Marina Nordera), On Reenactment: Concepts, Methodologies, Tools (with Cristina Baldacci). She also works as a curator for different Italian institutions.
