Published in these days the art book “Submerged landscapes: a pinhole photographic tale” by Martino Nicoletti of UWS

Inspired by an ancient pagan myth, the art book, through a selection of analogical pinhole photographs, narrates the tragic love story between the fascinating aquatic nymph Agilla and Prince Trasimenus, son of the powerful Etruscan King Tyrrhenus.

Background of the oneiric work is Trasimenus, the gorgeous and vast lake of Italy’s Umbria region as well as the original abode of Agilla.

The book, printed in Bangkok by Pharbim Ldt. Part., has been published in a limited edition of 99 numbered copies.


“Seen from the depths of the water, sunbeams appear just as shining reflections. Water is not only matter: it is a fluid kingdom, to which one may or may not belong. Earth is not only an element: it is a pulsating territory, to which one may or may not belong. Fire is not only a substance: it is a living realm of which one may be part, or not. The same is true of the air, if one knows anything about it. Penetrating elements or merging with them is a rare ability. Love can help. In some circumstances, premature death can also help. Sometimes. Penetrating, merging; even crossing. Bring lightning into your breast. Be blind. Keep a flame in the exact centre of your heart and follow it. A blissful blazing blindness”.

Intercultural dialogue: arts policy and practice in Europe

Graham Jeffery, Reader in Music and Performance, is a participant in Platform for Intercultural Europe's Practice Exchange at Rose Bruford College in London on the 15th and 16th December. His presentation on Thursday afternoon will explore whether the transformational claims that are often made for arts practice can be shown to be more than convenient rhetorics. Are there circumstances in which artistic interventions can be regarded as substantial social actions, which might be genuinely participatory and inclusive, and catalyze meaningful social change? Or are all such claims to be treated with justified suspicion as the 'instrumentalization of culture', and terms like 'social inclusion' or 'neighbourhood renewal', associated under the UK's previous government with significant public investment in cultural activities, simply to be treated as discredited slogans?

The arts are often celebrated as addressing and catalysing issues of cultural difference, providing grounds for transmitting and expressing cultural identity, developing conversations between strangers, or publicly provoking difficult questions which are ignored elsewhere in society. But in a febrile atmosphere of shrinking public funding, with policy now more ambivalent towards claims that the arts might contribute to intercultural understanding, what spaces, places and approaches are there that might offer some hopeful pointers?

Other presenters include Jatinder Verma, Dan Rebellato, Eugene Skeef, Hardish Virk, and Helen Burrows.


The full programme is available here. 

"STENOPEICA": in Bangkok a multimedia exhibition by Seubsakun Sarunputi, Martino Nicoletti, Toeingam Guptabutra and Alessandra Campoli

Friday 17 December 2010, the School of Media Arts of Silpakorn University, will present a multimedia exhibition by the artists Seubsakun Sarunputi, Martino Nicoletti, Toeingam Guptabutra and Alessandra Campoli.
In the suggestive framework of an abandoned traditional Thai house, the exhibition will display the results of an original combination of photography, visual poetry, writing, music, installation and performance.
Common denominator of the collective event is the idea of “stenopeica”, meaning “pinhole”: a sharp gaze through narrow possibilities for sight.


Silpakorn University, Sanamchandra Campus, Nakhonpratom
Reun Prakumsakkee House, 6 pm.