Collettivo Angelo Mai wins Franco Quadri Ubu Prize 2016

The Collettivo Angelo Mai, a Rome-based independent art collective, has been awarded the prestigious Franco Quadri Special Prize at the 2016 Ubu Awards, Italy's top theater honors. The prize recognizes the collective's 'force of resistance' in persistently rethinking cultural institutions, attention, and working conditions, becoming a productive reference for many theater and music artists. Founded in late 2004 through the occupation of an abandoned boarding school in Rome's Monti district, the collective was evicted in 2006 and spent three nomadic years before settling in a former bowling alley at Viale delle Terme di Caracalla, which they renovated into a theater called 'Altrove.' In 2014, the space was seized and members were investigated for criminal association, but a historic court ruling declared them legitimate assignees, and all charges were dropped. The collective continues to face bureaucratic challenges, including a request from the Municipality of Rome to return the property, despite public praise from Culture Councillor Luca Bergamo following the Ubu Prize. The collective's activities include Bluemotion, a research and training branch focusing on theater, music, video, and visual arts, and the 'Non normale, non rassicurante. Progetto Caryl Churchill' project to promote the playwright's work in Italy. The collective views the prize as symbolic recognition of cultural resistance and national and international hospitality.