La Sete e L’Orecchio  is a project curated by Ramdon, under the artistic direction of Donato Epiro, in collaboration with the Castromediano Museum in Lecce and the Municipality of Castrignano de’ Greci.

It proposes to explore the different declinations that water can take on in its different physical, symbolic and spiritual states in a constant dialogue between the ancient and the contemporary, reinterpreting and fostering the rediscovery of the culture of water in the popular tradition, starting from the peculiarities of the water system of Castrignano de’ Greci, a town in the Grecìa Salentina region, on whose territory the Ramdom association operates, based within Kora – Contemporary Art Center, at the Palazzo Baronale De Gualtieriis.

The particular configuration of Castrignano’s terrain allowed rainwater to flow into several places in the town through a system of underground caves, canals and wells that, for centuries, favoured the formation and preservation of a water heritage that was fundamental for carrying out agricultural activities in particular. Mostly underground and therefore not visible, this network is revealed in some of the town’s key places, often meeting places or places of worship that have defined the identitỳ of the town and its population over time: the Parco delle Pozzelle, within which one can count around a hundred underground tanks (fréata in the Griko language) used to collect rainwater, the natural pond of the ancient Masseria Pozzelle, the Baronial Castle, into whose cisterns much of the rainwater was channelled and then stagnated in the moat, the Byzantine Crypt of Sant’Onofrio, and the church of Santa Maria delle Pozzelle. The theme of water is also a recurring element in the collections of the Sigismondo Castromediano Archaeological Museum in Lecce. The pole, hub of material evidence of Salento’s history, from prehistory to the present day, with its collections from the numerous Salento coastal caves, primitive landings since prehistoric times on the already frequented Mediterranean routes, is committed to making the finds from all the underwater archaeological sites near the coast, of which Apulia itself and the entire Adriatic are particularly rich.

Already partners in the Fluxo project, produced by Arthub and presented in the spaces of Pirelli HangarBicocca last November, the Cultural Institute of Ramdom and the Castromediano Museum in Lecce with La Sete e L’Orecchio, renew their collaboration in the field of cultural production.

Developed with a view to multidisciplinarity, the project envisages the participation of artists whose research ranges across areas such as contemporary and electronic music, performance, dance, contaminating themselves with ecology, anthropology and history.

The project is developed in 3 artist residencies with Attila Faravelli, Marta Bellu and Canti Magnetici, 2 workshops and a diffuse festival scheduled in two public events, on 17 September at KORA, which hosted concerts by Mike Cooper and Francesco Fonassi and the performance/installation[re]BO[u]NDS by Giulio Colangelo in Castrignano de’ Greci, and on 3 December at the Castromediano Museum in Lecce the performances of Rossella Biscotti and Attila Faravelli and the dancer Marta Bellu, the concerts of the duo Bellows of the ensemble Blutwurst, and the soundtrack of the collective Canti Magnetici.

The programme is supported by FUS – Fondo Unico dello Spettacolo del Ministero della Cultura – Progetti Speciali 2022″.

graphic project: Grazia Amelia Bellitta

photos: Alice Stella