Mantova's Lunetta district offers free empty shops as artist studios

The Lunetta Cultural Camp project, launched by the association Caravan SetUp, aims to repopulate the historic dormitory district of Lunetta in Mantova by converting vacant shops into free artist studios. Starting May 3, 2021, a call is open to creatives of all sectors—artists, designers, actors, writers, filmmakers—to apply for free use of empty spaces for one year, renewable for one or two years. The initiative, led by curator Simona Gavioli, seeks to transform the city from a passive attractor of creative classes into a productive generator of new identity, economies, and geographies. Lunetta, a working-class neighborhood north of Mantova near Palazzo Te and Castello di San Giorgio, was built starting January 1968 with public housing for 12,000 inhabitants. Today it houses 4,000 residents from 18 ethnic groups, with its focal point being the Cocel building, which has about 20 empty shops since the late 1980s. The project builds on the Without Frontiers urban art festival, born during Mantova's 2016 Capital of Culture year. Selected winners must open their studios every third Saturday of the month starting June 19, 2021, coinciding with the sixth edition of Without Frontiers – Lunetta a Colori. Applications close May 17, 2021.