amaneï: Iancura Residency Programme, Italy

amaneï now invite artists and cultural professionals legally residing in one of the 40 Creative Countries (including their Overseas Countries and Territories (OCTs) and Outermost Regions (ORs) of the European Union), except Italy, to apply for the research-based residency project ‘Iancura’ in Santa Marina Salina (Aeolian Islands) in spring 2024. amaneï welcomes applications from candidates from different stages of their careers and different backgrounds, with a focus on experimental practices in visual arts, cultural theory, performance, filmmaking, curating, literary translation, and writing.

The Iancura project aims to rediscover the local cultural and natural history of a remote area in the Mediterranean Sea that is still poorly known. It takes its name from a unique meteorological phenomenon known in the Aeolian dialect. It signifies a moment of temporal suspension when the sea and sky merge, creating a motionless, white, and milky landscape. Just as iancura represents a temporary suspension, where the sea and sky merge in a motionless and ethereal state, untold stories exist as dormant narratives waiting to be unveiled. Drawing inspiration from the studies of Macrina Marilena Maffei (anthropologist who has dedicated her work to collecting and preserving the oral narratives of the Aeolian Islands, mainly focusing on women, healing practices and the supernatural world) and Pietro Lo Cascio (a naturalist whose primary focus is the study of island biodiversity) the project explores the possibilities of history-writing, cultural knowledge transmission, and memory reclamation. The residency programme’s structure investigates untold/unwritten stories while giving voice to silenced perspectives through territorial investigation and art practices. Iancura emphasises critical thinking, alongside narratives not validated, interpreted, or recorded, fostering cross-cultural connections and dialogue with local organisations, communities, and scholars within the Aeolian territory.

The residency period lasts one month (April/May 2024, tbc), with four residents at a time.

Iancura Residency will offer accommodation and workspaces. It will also cover travel expenses (from the place of residence to the place of destination, and back to the place of residence – including visa expenses if needed) and living-related costs (such as food and local transportation). Traveling by land and sea (train, bus, ferry) is highly preferred.