Lisa Sorgini is an outstanding member of our Community.
Lisa Sorgini was recently invited by PhEST to undertake a residency in Taranto as part of the second edition of Artlab Eyeland. The outcome is a project that with their support, reveals, through the universal lens of motherhood, a community under immense strain and the nature of human resilience.
Tamburi is an area of the city of Taranto, a region of Puglia in southern Italy, and it is the epicentre of an ever-evolving environmental disaster, caused by the industrial site Ilva, the largest steelworks in Europe. Simply by being born in Tamburi means that your risk of certain cancers, cardiovascular issues and respiratory illnesses is around 50 per cent higher when compared to other areas in the region. It has been identified to be so dangerous that the residents live at times under a curfew, especially during the so-called “wind days”. This is when the wind is too strong and the risk of stronger emissions from the plant is much higher. Schools also close earlier on these days. What Lisa found in Tamburi was a place incredibly rich in history and tradition, fiercely proud of its identity. The people she met were warm, upfront and hopeful for their future. Its children held and nurtured through adversity by strong women and family networks.
The mother
s battle for her child with sickness,
with poverty, with war,
with all the forces of exploitation and callousness that cheapen human life
needs to become a common human battle,
waged in love and in the passion for survival.
Adrienne Rich - Of Woman Born
Artlab Eyeland will run from May 25th to June 30th in Taranto Città Vecchia. https://www.artlabeyeland.it/
https://www.instagram.com/artlab_eyeland/
