05 Dec 2013

Free Home University: December 5 to 15, 2013, Lecce, Italy

Free Home University
Class One: HOW WE WANT TO LIVE
December 5th to 15th, 2013, Lecce, Italy

www.freehomeuniversity.org

Free Home University (FHU) is a pedagogical experiment created in 2013 by an international group of artists and thinkers. It focuses on generating new ways of sharing and creating knowledge by experiencing life in common.
The name Free Home University refers to how a horizontal, inviting, energy-liberating environment (Free), within a protected and intimate space (Home), can provide an alternative, yet universal knowledge sharing (University). Intimacy, immersion, mutual learning, collaboration and hands-on practice are considered fundamental values.

FHU's definition of study is open and includes alternative forms of inquiry, research, artistic processes and experimental practices. Mentors and Fellows live and work together in intensive Classes throughout the year. Experiencing coalitional learning, each participant will be both a teacher and a student bringing together different disciplines and perspectives.

The FHU includes a series of Classes in 2013, 2014 and 2015. The first Class (December 5th to 15th, 2013) will focus on this theme: HOW WE WANT TO LIVE.

The Class includes Mentors who propose a direction of inquiry and Fellows who explore and continue it through three modules. Mentors are the artists Ayreen Anastas and Rene Gabri, Lu Cafausu (Emilio Fantin, Luigi Negro, Giancarlo Norese, Cesare Pietroiusti, and Luigi Presicce), and Adrian Paci. Fellows are a blend of local, Italian and international artists, curators and scholars: Sara Alberani, Vashti Ali, Valentina Apicerni, Sarah Ciraci' , Irene Coppola, Luigi Coppola, Maria De Schio, Cecilia Divizia, Elisabetta Falanga, Giulia Gabrielli , Karen Hakobian, Astrit Ismaili, Laura Lovate, Carlo Marchetti, Federica Menin, Matilda Odobashi, Mattia Pellegrini, Samuele Piazza, Davide Ricco, Harout Simonian, Anastasis Stratakis, Roberto Tenace, Edoardo Tronchin.

Guests and visitors, both from the local context and the international horizon, will contribute to the process.

FHU is based in the city of Lecce and nearby village of San Cesario, in Apulia, Italy. A program of public activities (discussions, workshops, dinners, screenings, events in public spaces) will connect multiple communities, linking local and global issues, and relating to the immediate context. Learnings produced by the Class will be available on a Creative Commons license for free download on www.freehomeuniversity.org that is conceived as a dynamic public forum for all participants.

FHU is working towards becoming a longer-term project. It aims to operate with an open, modular, and replicable structure; investigate practices and theories; experiment with varied approaches; cross-pollinate disciplines; practice self-education and enrich our communities.

FHU supports the work of cultural practitioners who are invested in learning practices, social processes and art as life.

MODULES FOR CLASS ONE (December 5th to 15th, 2013)

A Common(s) Course: Commoning Times, Commoning Cities
Mentors: Ayreen Anastas and Rene Gabri
The shared time of this module is dedicated to developing a new sensorium for the commons and practices of commoning. The course will build capacity to enhance and cultivate a relation to the interdependency of different life forms and the necessity to develop an understanding of the common(s) that is not strictly centered on human life.

The Celebration of the Living (Who Reflect Upon Death)
Mentors: Lu Cafauso (Emilio Fantin, Luigi Negro, Giancarlo Norese, Cesare Pietroiusti, Luigi Presicce)
Through the process of discussion, planning, design and implementation, participants will collectively research and develop The Celebration, an ongoing collaborative art project. The themes will include: a meditation on death not only as a celebration and remembrance of those who passed away, but also a perspective that can offer a meaning to the living.

Through the Image, Beyond the Image
Mentor: Adrian Paci
This module will deal with the image in all its complexity, intimate folds, pleadings, and contradictions. The languages of photo, drawing, painting, and video will be used to explore representation. Participants will find movies and images that come from a context of intimate life to focus on the gaze, and to temper and refine sensitivities in order to be able to read and dig into these images.

A Project of Loop House and Musagetes, curated by Alissa Firth-Eagland, Luigi Negro and Alessandra Pomarico.

Canadian MEDIA CONTACT:
Alissa Firth-Eagland
Program Manager, Musagetes
519 836 7300 ext. 105
519 546 9662
alissa@musagetes.ca
musagetes.ca
facebook.com/musagetesfoundation

Italian MEDIA CONTACT :
Alessandra Caiulo
alessandracaiulo.press@gmail.com
+39 366.8166047

www.freehomeuniversity.org