Centrale Fies Transforms into Year-Round Research Center for Performing Arts

On May 28, 2021, Centrale Fies in Dro, Italy, inaugurated a permanent research center for performing arts, abandoning its traditional festival format. The shift prioritizes production and artist support, with multiple events spread throughout the year instead of a single summer festival. Topics include migration, gender, family, and performance conservation. The center operates under collective curatorship led by Barbara Boninsegna. The first public weekend, titled 'Thank you for coming,' was curated by Boninsegna and Marco D'Agostin, featuring intimate experiences and musical events. The ninth edition of Live Works, now called a 'summit,' tripled residency opportunities, doubled support budgets, and introduced a fellowship dedicated to Agitu Ideo Gudeta, focusing on anti-racist affirmative action. The APAP network's Feminist Futures Festival will be hosted at Centrale Fies, with a feminist, intersectional approach. A winter exhibition of the performance collection curated by Denis Isaia will explore new modes of reactivation beyond re-enactment. Claudia D'Alonzo's virtual gallery INBTWN, developed for Centrale Fies, addresses limitations from the pandemic, with a 2021 edition centered on sound and invisible dimensions of bodies.