Ludovica Carbotta: I come from outside of myself at OGR Torino in Turin, Italy, is a project by OGR Torino for The European Pavilion. The European Pavilion is a project born out of the desire of the European Cultural Foundation, together with numerous European institutions and the support of Fondazione CRT, Fondazione Camargo, and Fondazione Kultura Nova, to question the lack of a European pavilion in major international events. The European Pavilion is not a physical space, but a network born from the involvement of institutions, artists and activists, a cultural movement that promotes trans-local and trans-national collaborations.
Ludovica Carbotta’s I come from outside of myself is a proposal for an ideal pavilion. Carbotta turns the OGR into the production space of the pavilions, sculptures made from casts and later replicated thanks to self-made machines that recycle plastic. In the artist’s will, these objects enjoy an extraterritoriality similar to that of the Biennale pavilions and, like amulets, allow their keepers to enjoy a protection that transcends the guarantees provided by a single nation-state. After the launch phase at the OGR, the pavilions will begin to circulate freely to propel new opportunities for debate. On Nov. 17, at The European Pavilion in Rome, the artist will donate four pavilions to four speakers during a discussion open to the public.
Ludovica Carbotta: I come from outside of myself at OGR Torino in Turin, Italy. November 4, 2022.
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Press text (excerpt):
A project by OGR Torino for The European Pavilion
What shape might a European Pavilion take during an international event? What values should it represent? Could it, like a Venice Biennale pavilion, function as an “embassy,” able to guarantee rights? If so, which and whose rights?
I come from outside of myself is Ludovica Carbotta’s proposal for an ideal pavilion: the artist’s project does not envisage the construction of a permanent building that contains people, but of a potential space, one that can be “contained”: a fragile, mobile architecture, able to pass from hand to hand, and from country to country.
The artist turns the OGR into the production space of the pavilions, sculptures made from casts and later replicated thanks to self-made machines that recycle plastic. In the artist’s will, these objects enjoy an extraterritoriality similar to that of the Biennale pavilions and, like amulets, allow their keepers to enjoy a protection that transcends the guarantees provided by a single nation-state.
Ludovica Carbotta’s idea stems from observing the mutability of European borders and their symbolic and narrative value: these borders are permeable and allow great freedom of movement to goods and people found within, yet they are undeniably growing stronger to violently exclude those coming from outside, with ensuing tragic consequences.
Ludovica Carbotta’s I come from outside of myself represents OGR Torino’s unprecedented contribution to The European Pavilion, the project born out of the desire of the European Cultural Foundation, together with numerous European institutions and the support of Fondazione CRT, Fondazione Camargo, and Fondazione Kultura Nova, to question the lack of a European pavilion in major international events. The European Pavilion is not a physical space, but a network born from the involvement of institutions, artists and activists, a cultural movement that promotes trans-local and trans-national collaborations by stimulating curiosity, interest and creativity across borders, sectors, and generations.
After the launch phase at the OGR, the pavilions will begin to circulate freely to propel new opportunities for debate. On Nov. 17, at The European Pavilion in Rome, the artist will donate four pavilions to four speakers during a discussion open to the public.
ROUND TABLE
For the project presentation, Binario 2 becomes a meeting space for a series of experts invited to dialogue. The artist has called legal experts Alessandra Donati, Elisabetta Lamarque and Stefano Montaldo, philosopher Lorenzo Marsili, economist Alessandra Venturini and art historian Vittoria Martini to question the nature of current European borders and the concept of European citizenship, between limits and possibilities.
Initiated by the European Cultural Foundation in 2020, The European Pavilion is a programme that provides spaces for experimentation and reflection on Europe.
In 2021-2022, the European Pavilion is supported by Fondazione CRT and developed in partnership with Camargo Foundation and Kultura Nova Foundation.