Matera 2019: Architecture of Shame, Design Workshop, and Collective Mosaic

Matera, European Capital of Culture 2019, hosts a weekend of events exploring cultural roots through art. 'Happy Birthday Shame!' runs July 23-27, a five-day program by the Architecture of Shame collective and Fondazione Matera Basilicata 2019, examining the relationship between architecture and shame in Europe. It references Palmiro Togliatti's 1948 description of Matera's Sassi as a 'national shame.' The IN Residence Design Workshop #12: Geo-Synchronicity takes place July 25-28 at Open Design School, led by designer-tutors Théophile Blandet and Zaven (Enrica Cavarzan and Marco Zavagno), with curators Barbara Brondi & Marco Rainò (Studio BRH+). The project Costellazione, a collective mosaic artwork originally created for Rho's Piazza Costellazione during EXPO MILANO 2015, arrives in Matera. From July 20-29 at Spazio dell'Angelo, citizens and students create mosaic tiles forming 'Il Cielo in una Stanza' (The Sky in a Room), featuring the Little Dipper and Polaris in European colors. The work is produced by Fondazione Matera Basilicata 2019 and Accademia di Belle Arti di Brera-Milano, and will travel to Dubai for Expo 2020.