In December 2023, together with Sonnenstube and under the guidance of geologist Ulla Fattorini, we visited the Breggia Gorge Park and the cement path in Morbio Inferiore (Switzerland). A few decades of industrial history have irreversibly transformed this strip of land. By utilizing the limestone deposits that settled at the bottom of the Tethys Sea (the ancient ocean that separated the European continent from North Africa and Asia 200 million years ago), cement was produced in Morbio that built, transformed, and devastated the valley floor of Canton Ticino. The shells of the invertebrates that populated this ancient ocean have become the building blocks of modern construction. Inspired by the human and more-than-human history of this context, we created “Coccoliti,” a performance of reading in the dark held at Sonnenstube in January 2024.
Year: 2023-2024
Residency locations: Parco delle gole della Breggia, Balerna, Arzo’s Caves, Arzo CH
Performance locations: Sonnenstube, Lugano CH
Participants: Alice Fiorelli, Giacomo Galletti, Viola Leddi, Andrea Magnani, Mattia Pajè, Riccardo Sala, Gabriel Stöckli, Stella Succi, Piermauro Tamburini, Jean Louis Tschanz-Egger, Tommaso Zerbini
The guide shows a photo of Saceba.
External view of Saceba
The group walks outside Saceba
The caves of the Parco delle Gole della Breggia
The caves of the Parco delle Gole della Breggia
The caves of the Parco delle Gole della Breggia
A statue of Saint Barbara inside the caves
The caves of the Parco delle Gole della Breggia
The caves of the Parco delle Gole della Breggia
The caves of the Parco delle Gole della Breggia
The cement factory engines
The caves of the Parco delle Gole della Breggia
The caves of the Parco delle Gole della Breggia
the group in Arzo
The caves of the Parco delle Gole della Breggia
the group in Arzo
Hands traces in concrete
performance view at Sonnenstube
3:58 audio loop in a car parked in front of Sonnenstube