For the first time, Fondazione Studio Rizoma launches an open call for proposals from local partners in the city of Palermo and international collaborators from across the Mediterranean to actively contribute to the next edition of BETWEEN LAND AND SEA 2025. Scheduled to take place in Palermo in November 2025, the Festival aims to open a public space of learning, caring, experience, curiosity, inquiry, debate, delight, outrage, speculation, transgression, imagination and action about the meanings and possibilities contained in our lives and practices.
The topic we want to explore is SIGNIFICATO, as it seems that there is a historical need to defend the meaning of words and concepts almost etymologically. As political contexts are as polarised as ever, what are the meanings and signifiers we can identify for anchorage and guidance? Looking at BETWEEN LAND AND SEA, sea (mare) has two possible roots one coming from the Sanskrit mors, death for the perceived absence of life in the waters, and a second one coming from Greek and Latin and meaning sparkling or shining. Land (terra) has an Indo-European root with the same meaning as the Latin one translating to dry matter. Focusing on the intermediate space between land and sea may mean to focus on the relationship the two share with each other.
The term in between is written about by Deleuze and Guattari in A Thousand Plateaus. For them in between (entre in French) – “it is not an average at all; on the contrary, it is the point at which things accelerate. The ‘between’ is a transversal movement that flows in both directions, a flow without beginning or end that erodes its banks and gains speed in the middle.” The concept of between is used by them to describe the reality of relationships and interconnections, never fixed or determined, which are formed through complex dynamics that always take place in an interstitial space. Still in the discourse on territorialization and deterritorialization – in between can be seen as a place of interaction between opposing or different forces (land and sea) that mutually influence each other, and often give rise to new territories or possibilities of expression.
As stated in her text Nomadi, Rosie Braidotti challenges the idea that meaning can be found in a singular, static form or in one’s place of origin. Instead, meaning is not something inherent or static; it is something that is continuously constructed through encounters, transitions, and shifting identities. In line with Myriam Bahaffou’s dynamic approach to language, we propose a collective reflection about how meaning is constructed and renegotiated in relation to the normalization of dominant discourses and power structures.
The open call welcomes thought-provoking proposals from the arts, sciences and architecture. The format can vary from ephemeral installations, performances, participatory sessions, workshops, and showcases.
The FSR team will assist with the production, curation and communication of selected proposals. Limited co-funding support is available. All proposals must have an existing budget or funding strategy.
Curatorial Team: Marta Cillero Manzano, MariaTeresa Daniele, Yolenn Farges, Giorgio Mega, Izabela Moren, Patrizia Pozzo.
Requirements to Apply:
> Interested in developing alternative and ecological / decolonial practices with a cultural or artistic approach.
> Available to work with us during the months of September and October. If you are selected, you are also available to participate in online preparatory sessions, including the kick-off meeting for all partners between April – June 2025.
> Track record of work in the field of art through reflection on key topics of the programme such as ecofeminism, decolonisation, future of jobs, technology, migration, gender theory, and climate justice.
How to Apply:
Submissions are due by March 17th 2025 at 9.00 A.M. CET.
Please submit your document as a single PDF titled name (collective/individual/organism)_title.pdf to info@studiorizoma.org with the subject ‘OPEN CALL BLAS 2025’.
Requested materials:
> Project Title and Abstract (500 words)
> Biography of the collective / organism / individual (200 words)
> 5 reference images of the work / previous works / research
> Budget
Selected proposals will be notified in the following weeks after the deadline. We look forward to receiving, reviewing, and reading your submissions.