Musica Libera: two new events at the 70th Festival

Two events come to join the programme of the 70^th International Festival of Contemporary Music of La Biennale di Venezia (10 > 24 October), directed by Caterina Barbieri. To be held under the title Musica Libera on 18 and 24 October (at 4 pm) inside the women’s penitentiary Casa di reclusione femminile Venezia Giudecca, they will present the results of a workshop that featured the women in the Institute working with the young musicians of Biennale College Musica and their mentors.

“A workshop in the name of music – states Caterina Barbieri – which aims to open a dialogue with the city of Venice and its social fabric. This initiative reflects an idea of cultural programming that seeks to elevate music for its therapeutic power, conceiving artistic creation not as a simple object of passive enjoyment and consumption, but as a potential channel for catharsis and collective transformation. In line with the theme of the Festival, dedicated to childhood and intuition, and following a principle of total openness, these sessions have sought to create spaces of authentic creative freedom, without the pressure of having to achieve a predetermined outcome imposed upon them. The spirit of Musica Libera lies in its choral nature, grounded in listening, vulnerability, expressive urgency and co-creation, rather than a predetermined method of composition. The result takes shape as a sound installation activated by a live performance with the inmates and the young composers of Biennale College Musica, presented as an open rehearsal inside the women’s penitentiary on the Giudecca in two events that are part of the Festival’s official programme”.

Over the course of three workshop sessions, held between April and July, the women in the penal institution participated in and contributed to – with the composers, sound artists and performers of Biennale College Wyldie Bracewell, Talullah Calderwood, Lara Damaso, Andrea La Pietra, alys(alys)alys – three different initiatives involving music and listening.

The first, Oral Present, was conducted by Camae Ayewa, better known as Moor Mother, an Afro-American poet, musician and activist, founder of the Black Quantum Futurism collective, which through art and theory explores new conceptions of time linked to the Black diaspora. Ayewa engaged with the participants and recorded their answers to three questions regarding the concept of memory, time and transmission: about the time we experience and the idea of speaking across time, with the purpose of sending a message to ourselves, our family or to the world.
The second, Listening Together, conducted by Alif Hilal, the American composer and vocalist previously known as Lyra Pramuk, created a listening and discussion group based on musical proposals made by the participants themselves, based on their personal preferences and emotional involvement, questioning them about ways of feeling and the words to say it.
Finally, Free Music, a session led by Simone Trabucchi, known to the public as STILL, brought inside the prison an actual recording studio to promote their shared use according to an open conception of music, a language that can narrate, evoke and transform. This is the tool that will be used to produce songs, musical pieces and soundscapes that may serve as material to process the recordings made to date with Camae Ayewa and Alif Hilal.

The actual rehearsals will take place from 29 September to 6 October before finally converging into the sound installation activated by a live performance on 18 and 24 October in the courtyard of the penitentiary, the Casa di reclusione, built around the central body of the ancient Church and ancient women’s Convent of the Convertite.

Members of the public wishing to attend one of the two Musica Libera events of the 70^th International Festival of Contemporary Music must register online on the website of La Biennale di Venezia. Instructions on how to register to be announced.
Musica Libera joins Rinasco con l’Arte, an initiative also promoted by La Biennale di Venezia with the purpose of strengthening the relationship with the penal Institution.

We wish to thank the Casa di reclusione femminile Venezia Giudecca, the Department of Penitentiary Administration and the Regional Office of Prison Administration for Veneto – Friuli VG – Trentino AA.