Ferdinando Mazzitelli's Podcast Project with Milan Students Explores the Word 'Aria'

Artist Ferdinando Mazzitelli collaborated with students from the 2G class of Istituto Comprensivo Statale di I grado De Andreis in Milan on a podcast project conducted between January and March 2021. The project involved researching two thousand Italian terms, phrases, and expressions related to the word 'aria' (air). Students selected one term each, created personal drawings representing it, then exchanged and interpreted each other's work. The resulting podcast, 'Rubriche d’aria,' was curated by Juan Pablo Macias and Alessandra Poggianti and is available on Spreaker. Mazzitelli, a visual artist born in Marzi (Cosenza) and based in Milan, began exhibiting in the early 1990s, participated in the Oreste group (1997-2002), founded the a>Monte project in Matera, and co-founded Macao in Milan. The project was supported by Italian teacher Chiara Carpentieri, who assisted with linguistic aspects. The podcast is part of the Carico Massimo initiative, which started in 2012 at the former Magazzini Generali of the Port of Livorno as a space for artistic experimentation.