Luca Ronconi
I teatri dell'utopia
Symposium curated by Università Ca’ Foscari, Venice.
Organised by the Department of Philosophy and Cultural Heritage at the Università Ca’ Foscari in Venice and the Centro Teatrale Santacristina, in partnership with the doctoral research programme in History of Art at Ca’ Foscari, and the Ateatro ETS Cultural Association.
Luca Ronconi, one of the great directors of contemporary theatre, experienced a pivotal moment in his career in Venice. As Artistic Director of the Biennale Teatro e Musica from 1974 to 1976, he led an extraordinary festival-workshop that took over the city with performances and seminars by leading figures in international experimental theatre. At the former Naval Shipyards on the Giudecca, he created one of his “impossible” masterpieces, Utopia.
Ten years after his passing, a day of events pays tribute to Ronconi, bringing together scholars, critics and collaborators. The morning session is dedicated to exploring Ronconi’s relationship with theatrical and urban space, as well as the living memory of his work, drawing on the Fondo Luca Ronconi, currently held in the Historical Archive of Contemporary Arts at the Biennale. In the afternoon, a roundtable discussion introduces the publication Cantiere Ronconi: Traces, Memories, Productions, a special issue of the journal Engramma. The day concludes with a screening of the documentary 75-Biennale Ronconi Venezia (Palomar, 2022), in the presence of director Jacopo Quadri.
