How did this grant contribute to the realization of your project in regard to artistic exchange, local cultural development and/or the promotion of cultural diversity?
My participation to the public discussion of the "Azure Watch: Office for Public Memory" exhibition had an immediate effect on the realization of my project.
I designed and realized the "Azure Watch" project in Gozo and Malta from October 2017 to April 2018. The project consisted in a series of participatory actions and exhibitions, aimed at collecting and displaying an archive of media presenting a revised visual memory of the Azure Window (the collapse of which was mourned by Gozitan and Maltese population on March 8th 2017), as produced by the community in Malta and Gozo.
The final public discussion of the project was a key moment in the artistic process, as it allowed the citizens and local artists who contributed to the "Azure Watch" to exchange opinions and debate about crucial themes such as the memory and iconography of their own landscape. Through this discussion, the participants were able to understand and figure out how a community can actually manage and preserve that iconography and create a narrative of their own territory.
The archive of collected media is still available for consultation and open to new contributions and is thus likely to be reinstalled and presented in future events and other participatory actions.
How does exchange, networking and international contacts contribute to the development of your artistic and cultural project?
I'm currently engaged in different projects in which participatory storytelling and collective imagery play a central role. This experience is of sure help in developing new strategies and creating network.
In this particular case, the fact that I worked in a team is fundamental in the definition of the content and concept of the project. Mary Attard, Johannes Buch, Andrew Pace, Letta Shtohryn and all the people which contributed to the project are first of all inhabitants of Malta. Thus, adding both their expertise and knowledge of the territory, they prevent the risk of getting to a detached or abstract result, which an un-connected visitor like a foreign artist might produce.
Can you elaborate on the learning and knowledge you have gained and shared throughout this experience?
I think that photography-based participatory processes are physiological to the nature of the instrument itself. Its mass use makes it a perfect application for collective memory and community (and consequently territory) narratives.
Through the Azure Watch project, me and all the people involved were able to see first-hand the direct connection between the production of iconography (our photos, videos, sculptures, objects) and the consequent construction of the memory of a landscape. This made us recover an original and important role of photography, that we tend to forget in times of social networks and digital selfs.
Please indicate a link to your current work (website/facebook page)
http://www.giuseppefanizza.inf o/index.php?/projects/azure-watch/
https://www.facebook.com/azurewatch/
http://giuseppefanizza.inf o/files/giuseppe_fanizza_portfolio.pdf
https://www.facebook.com/giuseppe.fanizza.18
