The key objectives of Fluviale is to investigate the relationship between human beings and the river and other entities, a theme developed in a series of events curated by Spazio HYDRO / Better Places which started in 2021, with talks, workshops and spectacular moments of visual and performing arts. As mentioned in a previous article, one of the central topics of the first edition was the ‘river as a common’, referring to the attempt to rethink the river as a common good, but also as an entity bearer of transformations, needs, desires and therefore also of rights. After the first stage of the festival, held on 26 and 27 March, the second part of the 2022 programme is scheduled for Saturday 9 and Sunday 10 April: a two-day event aimed at exploring the connection between the river and the female sphere. The event, entitled River and the feminine, will propose two workshops and a party at Cittadellarte at via Cernaia 46, in collaboration with Le Parole Fucsia – Feminist Table and Il Groviglio – Biella’s LGBT+ association. “Over that weekend,” explain the organisers, “we will be sharing experiences and researches that deepen the relationship between the element of water and the feminine dimension in its complexity and beauty through ‘Water Info Transmission’, a practice of movement, sound and hydro-feminist research with Francesca Mariano; and ‘Irresistible Rebirth’, an in-depth conversation with Silvia Ricetti starting from the experience of menstruation and body fluidity. In addition to the workshop activities, on Saturday evening we will host the Queer party”.

Saturday
On 9 April at 3 pm the curtain will rise on the initiative with the workshop Water Info Transmission, curated by Francesca Mariano. Water Info Transmission is an evolving practice born in 2019 to investigate the relationship between hydro-feminism and dance through rituals of gesture and digital audio technology as emancipatory tools: “It acts as a DIY (do-it-yourself) space,” reads the event’s Facebook page, “to directly access our liquid streams of cellular information, to bypass pre-packaged wellness announcements and foster regeneration, inspiration and mutual support: a heterogeneous chorus of viscosity and permeability”. Francesca Mariano is a movement and sound artist with volcanic and marine origins in Southern Italy. Her practice explores the nuances between connection and alienation through collective workshops, hydro-feminism, fantasy music and landscape choreology; she also creates and participates in spaces of liquid circulation and somatic geology whose central element is the body in transformation, healing and emancipation. To take part in the event, you need to register here. From 9.30 pm to 1 am, the Queer party will follow, with a live performance, afro dance and a DJ set; the evening is free for Arci members.

Sunday
On 10 April, from 10 am to 12 pm, the second instalment of the project will close with Irresistible Rebirth, a workshop with Silvia Ricetti. “At a time when the order of the world seems to be upset and disrupted, this workshop aims at accompanying women in an exploration of their own relationship with flow and flux, with going through the many trials of life and finding a centre of dynamic balance within themselves each time;” we read in the presentation of the workshop, “to do this, we will let ourselves be guided by a flow that is particularly significant for women, that of menstruation, which with its disruptive and unpredictable quality, with its being and disappearing, returning and missing, cheering us up and upsetting us, marks a rhythm, invites us to be in a movement, attempts to teach us a dance. In its being in (and subjecting us to!) continuous transformation, it exhorts us to find a centre of gravity, while its cyclical nature reminds us that every death is inevitably followed by a rebirth”. Silvia Ricetti is a biographical analyst and body-oriented counsellor. Her studies and passions are centred on depth psychology, and over the years she has come into contact with many other traditions from both the West and the East, in particular yoga, meditation, gestalt and enneagram, tantra and various practices from American Indian culture. She leads individual paths for adults, parenting support groups, yoga and meditation sessions, and women’s meetings to work on purely feminine issues (such as the menstrual cycle, whether or not to choose motherhood, pregnancy and childbirth). The possibility of triggering creative and transformational impulses is conveyed in particular by working on the symbolic, dreams, spontaneous writing, body work and analytical relationships. To take part in the workshop you need to register here.

TACT
Fluviale is part of TACT (acronym for Territorio Arcipelago Comunità Torrente, i.e. Territory, archipelago, community, river), the winning project of the public call Creative Living Lab – 3rd edition, promoted by the General Directorate for Contemporary Creativity of the Ministry of Culture. As part of the initiatives promoted by the project, from March onwards Biella’s citizens will be offered moments of discussion open to the public in the form of meetings, thematic conferences and educational workshops. The activities will take place in the regenerated spaces of Fondazione Pistoletto, conceived as urban centres and designed to host participatory planning initiatives that can generate innovative ideas with a territorial impact. TACT deals with the themes of environmental fragility and sustainability in general, with a particular focus on water, education, energy and food. The event of 12 April on the theme of water will be followed by one in May on education and food, and one in June on energy. The cultural proposal curated by Fondazione Pistoletto, Better Places and cheFare will also be supported by an important collaboration with project “S+T+ARTS4Water” (2021-2022), promoted by the European Commission within the programme for research and innovation Horizon 2020.

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