CUORE DEL SOLE ARTIST RESIDENCY

RESIDENCIES, RESEARCH AND FORMATS OF COLLABORATION

Since summer 2020 we, the dancer and choreographer Chris Leuenberger (Bern) and video artist Christoph Oertli (Basel), have been proud owners of an old Italian mountain house in the Piemonte region of Northern Italy.
The house is situated at the edge of the highest village of the Cannobina valley.
The name of the village is Cursolo (old Italian word for Cuore del Sole or heart of the sun). Cursolo has 16 permanent inhabitants and is perched atop a steep slope facing the South. Offering a stunning view on Mount Riga and the wild and verdant valley, Cursolo is a power place where one can recharge one’s batteries and enjoy quietude.

Since autumn 2020 diverse renovations have taken place: The old beams and doors were sanded and polished, the walls were painted over, a new wood stove was installed and a yoga deck was built right below the vegetable garden.

Christoph has created a youtube channel documenting the slow process of various renovation works:

In 2021 I started teaching yoga classes for villagers and guests during the summer months.

VISION
The aim of Cuore del Sole Artist Residency is to offer space and time for the development of artistic practices based on awareness and appreciation of nature.

Artists who need peace and quiet to dedicate themselves to socially relevant topics get to take time off to think, write, read and develop their projects during a Cuore del Sole Artist Residency. The place is particularly suitable for nature loving individuals, couples and small collectives wishing to retreat from the turbulences of city life and interested in combining their art practice with contemplative rituals like meditation, yoga and nature walks.

Besides the residencies, Cuore del Sole can be a place for retreats, workshops, thematic laboratories and collaborative exchange projects for up to eight people.

PILOT RESIDENCIES 2022/23
Between October 2022 and October 2023 seven artists spent one or two weeks in Cursolo. Central to their residency proposals was the exploration of the body in immediate contact to nature.

RESIDENCY # 1

Sensory Body Landscape : October 2022

1-week residency by JiHae Ko (Amsterdam) – artist, somatic practitioner

#embodiment practices #5 elements according to TCM #grounding & belonging

RESIDENCY # 2

Micro-Politicas : July 2023

2-week residency by Catalina Chouhy (Montevideo) – dancer, researcher, somatic practitioner

#ethology #ecology #deep listening #micropolitics #creation

The patterns of the body, the patterns of nature – within the patterns of nature, the patterns of the body.
In the body, the fasciae that connect, inform, organize, distribute.
In the earth, the mycelial communication network, the organisms that “talk to each other,” the roots of the trees.
In the air the smells, the sounds.
In the water, the support, the silence, the flow, the calm.
In the space which connects, the vibration as the basic pattern of life-sustaining movement.

RESIDENCY # 3

Ecosomatic Residency : August 2023

10-day residency by Eiru Tsin (Montevideo/Mexico City) – dancer, visual artist

#ecosomatics #contactimprovisation #becomingrock #becomingriver #migration

RESIDENCY # 4

Bodies in Exile : September 2023

1-week residency by Burmese performance art duo Yadanar Win & Kolatt (Marseille)

#resistance #bodies in exile #queerness #performance art #breathing

RESIDENCY # 5

Breathing Conversations : September 2023

3-day residency by visual and performance artist Benjamin Sunarjo (Biel)

#breathing #process #origin #identity #takingtime

RESIDENCY # 6

Where we are now : October 2023

1-week residency by choreographer, dancer Lea Martini (Berlin)

#work-life balance #senior company #daily maintenance #daily practice #stress management #pleasure of dance #stacking wood #picking lavender

RESIDENCY # 7

Incontri del cuore : April 2024

2-week residency by performance and visual artist Iris Rosa (Bern)

#encounters of the heart #healing #walking

RESIDENCY # 8

Impressioni del giardino di Chris : August 2024

1-week residency by visual artist and costume designer Ama (Berlin/Naples)

#cianotype #berries printing #leaves impression #natural photography

RESIDENCY # 9

Primavera : November 2024

1-week residency by photographers Manu Gruber and Tim Gassauer (Berlin)

#partisans #repubblica dell’ossola #fascism #resistance #photography

PRIMAVERA befasst sich fotografisch mit dem wieder aufkeimenden Faschismus in Deutschland und Italien. Als Kulisse für die bildliche Auseinandersetzung fungieren hierbei die norditalienischen Alpen, die sowohl NS-Projektionsfläche als auch Widerstandsraum der italienischen Partisan:innenbewegung waren. Insbesondere das Ossolatal im Piemont war im Herbst 1944 Schauplatz zahlreicher Kämpfe zwischen Resistenza-Verbänden und deutschen SS- und Wehrmachtseinheiten, die ihren Höhepunkt in der Hinrichtung von 42 Widerstandskämpfer:innen in Fondotoce fanden. Im September 1944 gelang jedoch die übergangsweise Befreiung des Tals und die Errichtung einer 40 Tage währenden Partisan:innenrepublik. 

PRIMAVERA verknüpft atmosphärische Aufnahmen alpiner Berglandschaften und Architekturen des Ossolatals mit intimen Portraits von Jugendlichen und Zeitzeug:innen, die an den bis heute stattfindenden Begegnungsfahrten zu Erinnerungsorten der Resistenza teilnehmen. Hinzu kommt die Einbeziehung historischen Bildmaterials. Das visuelle Umkreisen des antifaschistischen Widerstands in Italien bildet somit einen Reflektionsrahmen zu aktuell erstarkenden rechtspopulistischen Bewegungen der deutsch-italienische Gegenwart. 

Die explizit deutsch-italienische Perspektive des Projekts spiegelt sich auch in der Zusammensetzung der ausführenden Fotograf*innen wider. PRIMAVERA wird als Gemeinschaftsarbeit zwischen dem deutschen Fotografen Tim Gassauer und der deutsch-italienischen Fotografin Manu Gruber realisiert.

Tim Gassauer beschäftigte sich in seinen vorangegangen Arbeiten intensiv mit den Ambivalenzen des deutschen Heimatbegriffs (Einig I-II, 2022) sowie mit den Themen Nationalismus, Kolonialismus (Lüderitz, 2024) und rechter Gewalt (Heimatschutz, 2020). Vor seinem Studium an der Ostkreuzschule für Fotografie schloß er seinen Bachelor in Politikwissenschaften an der Berliner Humboldt-Universität ab.

Manu Gruber setzte sich in ihren bisherigen fotografischen Arbeiten mit den Themen Herkunft (Naprzeciwko, 2022), Erinnerung (Ferragosto, 2020 – ongoing) und der Visualisierung innerer Bilder auseinander. In ihrem vorausgegangenen Magisterstudium der Romanistik befasste sie sich zudem intensiv mit der Rolle der Frauen in der italienischen Resistenza. 

RESIDENCY # 10

Self Study : January 2025

1-week residency by dance artist Matthew Rogers (Prague/Hamburg)

#self reflection #journaling #dance #questions #research #haiku #writing #words

old jokes passing by

out in the street like stray cats

neighbors never knew

RESIDENCY # 11

All over the place : April 2025

1-week residency by dancers / choreographers Lea Martini and Magdalena Meindl (Berlin)

#insisting #muddy #ordine e bellezza #sala mutiuso

In the week leading up to Easter, Lea and Magdalena were working on their project ALL OVER THE PLACE in Cursolo. Because of the rainy weather we got the permission by the mayor to use the sala multiuso above the Circolo.

On Friday, April 18, we invited the people of Cursolo for a first public event. The dancers shared half an hour of choreography and there was a mediated public talk.

Some impressions people shared: “Pensavo che andavano a funghi”. “Io ho visto la marcia dei militari.” “Per me era tutto un’ percorso di vita. Si cade per terrra e si rialza. Quel movimento per me erano i guai. E quello con il busto in avanti la frustrazione come per dire vaffanculo!”