Formafantasma Curates Second I-DEA Exhibition in Matera's Cava Paradiso

The second phase of I-DEA, a project within the Matera 2019 European Capital of Culture program, opens on June 8 at Cava Paradiso in Matera. Titled 'Visione Unica: Cultures of Environmental Manipulation,' the exhibition is curated by Studio Formafantasma (Andrea Trimarchi and Simone Farresin), who succeed photographer Mario Cresci as curators. The show focuses on the anthropization of territory through filmic media, featuring ten digital screens and five projections displaying heterogeneous materials from Lucanian archives, including photographs, scientific cartographies, documentaries, and interviews. Central to the installation are vernacular objects. The curators were given complete freedom to explore archives, including those of the Consorzio di Bonifica della Basilicata, ALSIA, Google Earth, the ASI Space Geodesy Center in Matera, the Ethnomedia Library of the DiCEM at the University of Basilicata in Matera, and the Fondazione Cineteca di Bologna. The exhibition design, developed by Open Design School, uses modular structures—a metal skeleton and birch/plexiglass boxes—produced locally with sponsor Bawer. The space has been reconfigured to support the film-based display, contrasting with Cresci's earlier approach. The show runs until September 15, accompanied by a public program.