The artistic workshop, led by Polish visual artist, photographer and filmmaker Marta Bogdańska, will circulate around the life and work of Fiore de Henriquez (1921-2004) who was an Italian-British sculptor. This workshop, based on Bogdańska’s last work Love That Dare Not Speaks Its Name – that will be exhibited at Photolux Festival from the 21st of May to the 12th of June –, will investigate the need and ways to portray queer biographies, and understand our present through learning from the past. We want to see how histories such as Fiore’s can be told with sensitivity and honesty, and how to bring them into the spotlight.
De Henriquez was born in Trieste. After the Second World War she moved to the UK but she would come back to Italy a lot. In 1966, she purchased the ruinous hamlet of Peralta in Tuscany, and spent much time on its restoration as an artists’ colony.
De Henriquez was born intersex with ambiguous genitalia, and declared herself “proud to be hermaphrodite”.De Henriquez’s gender identity informed much of her work, with its recurring motifs of paired heads, conjoined figures, and ambiguous mythological creatures. From the early 1960s, her friendship with cubist sculptor Jacques Lipchitz encouraged her to experiment with looser forms.
In this two-day workshop we will visit Fiore de Henriquez house in Peralta, walk in her footsteps, examine archival material and create our own work inspired by her art, life and the location of Peralta and Lucca.
The Outcome of the group work is envisioned as a digital Newspaper gathering various materials and artworks produced during the workshop, which will be promoted on the Photolux website and will be sent to the participants
We encourage you to bring your cell phones, cameras and sound recorders, and come with an open mind and creative energy. You can draw, take pictures, build objects, interview people as well as write texts and poems.
The deadline for applications is May 15th, 2022.
For any further info please write an email to: workshopfiorephotolux@gmail.com.
Biography
Marta Bogdańska is a Polish visual artist, photographer and filmmaker. She holds an MA in philosophy and a diploma in gender studies from Warsaw University. She graduated from several experimental educational programs in visual culture and followed the Home Workspace Program in Beirut. She is also a member of Futures Photography & Women Photograph.
Recently she received a Konrad Pustola Scholarship and SELMA LAGERLöF SOCIETY’s SCHOLARSHIP for her projectLove that dare not speak its name.
Marta took part in several artist residency programs (Fresh AIR Berlin, Laimun, Landskrona Foto, Nida Art Colony, Gasworks).
In 2021, she published a 850-page photography book entitled SHIFTERS. Her work has been shown in many international Photo and Film festivals and exhibitions (e.g. Circulation(s), Belfast Photo Festival, Krakow Photomonth, FIF Belo Horizonte).
www.martabogdanska.com
Program
The workshop will take place between Lucca and Peralta.
In Peralta we will be hosted in Fiore’s house, with the possibility to visit the hamlet and see her sculptures and archival materials. In Lucca we will be hosted in the Complesso di San Micheletto, with a dedicated room with computer, projector, printer.
Friday, 20th May
2 pm – Meeting in Lucca at the San Micheletto complex
2.15 pm – Departure from Lucca to Peralta
3 pm – Arrival in Peralta
Workshop explanation and short presentation of Marta’s project for inspiration.
Visiting Fiore de Henriquez’s house, seeing her sculptures and archival materials (photos, letters etc.).
Photo & art walk (2 hours).
Gathering materials, archives etc.
Plan for Saturday.
7 pm – Trip back from Peralta to Lucca
8 pm – Arrival in Lucca
* For those that wish to spend the night in Peralta there is no need to arrive and come back to Lucca on Friday, we can meet directly there.
Saturday, 21st May
10 am – Meeting in Lucca at the San Micheletto complex
Working on the outcomes: archives and materials from Peralta, own works, the Internet. Creating artworks.
1 pm- Lunch break
2 pm – Final decisions on what to use, sequencing etc.
5 pm – End of the workshop
The workshop will be held in English.
This registration fee includes access to the workshop, the workshop material, and the field trip to Peralta.
Board and lodging are not included. If you are interested to spend the night in the evocative hamlet of Peralta you can contact info@peraltatuscany.com directly, specifying that you are going to participate in the workshop.
ESSENTIAL MATERIALS
Marsh, Jan. Art & Androgyny: The Life of Sculptor Fiore De Henriquez. London: Elliott & Thompson, 2004.
Bozzato, Fabio. La scultrice e il suo doppio, “Il Manifesto” 27.11.2015. Available at https://ilmanifesto.it/la-scultrice-e-il-suo-doppio
Exhibition IN LOVE WITH CLAY vita di Fiore de Henriquez, by Massimo Premuda e Dinah Voisin, Double Room Trieste, 17 ottobre 2015-29 gennaio 2016. More info at https://doubleroomtrieste.wordpress.com/2015/10/10/in-love-with-clay-vita-di-fiore-de-henriquez-2/
Magnum Opus – Sculptor Fiore de Henriquez and her Tuscan hillside village by Charles Mapleston, 2014-2015, UK. Available at https://vimeo.com/97439014
FIORE by John Tully, 1981, UK.
Fiore about her life and work, as told by people she knew by Richard Whymark, 2014, USA
Fiore – In love with clay by Richard Whymark, 2017, USA. Available at https://www.fioredocumentary.com
SCIENTIFIC DIRECTION AND ORGANIZATION
Linda Bertelli
Agnese Ghezzi
Chiara Ruberti
The workshop is organized and promoted with the cooperation of Peralta Tuscany.
