Isola delle Femmine. Un manifesto infinito di desideri

On Friday July 3, at Ocean Space, artist Stefania Galegati will discuss the project Isola delle Femmine (Island of Women), curated by Cristina Alga for the Mare Memoria Viva Urban Ecomuseum in Palermo. The exhibition, supported by the Directorate General for Contemporary Creativity of the Ministry of Culture, will be part of the Italian Council program (13th edition, 2024), aimed at the international promotion of Italian contemporary art in partnership with Gudskull (Jakarta) and Nafasi Art Project (Dar er Saalam).

The event opens with a screening of the film Isola, made during the artist's travels in Indonesia and Tanzania. This travel diary raises many questions: Does it still make sense to travel when mass tourism exists? What are we looking for on islands on the other side of the world? How do artists organize themselves without a traditional system? Are there deserted islands? Do women organize outside of the patriarchy? Are islands, like women's circles, small spaces from which to spark a revolution?

A recounting of the experiences and encounters that took place during a year of research dedicated to the themes of Isola delle Femmine, during which the artist and curator encountered the reality of women's economics and experimental art, such as the Motherbank of Jatiwangi (a group of women engaged in a microcredit project) and the seaweed farmers of Pemba. A section is also dedicated to the idea of ​​searching for an unnamed island and naming it Pulau Betina (Island of Women in Indonesian), opening up reflections on islands and colonialism with the Riwanua association from Makassar.

After the screening, we will open a conversation around the themes that emerged with artist Stefania Galegati, curator Cristina Alga, and several women's and non-women's associations working in the Venice lagoon.

Isola delle Femmine is a collective, multidimensional process that began in 2017, stemming from a dream: to physically purchase Isola delle Femmine, a small island off the coast of Palermo (currently a privately owned nature reserve) through a crowdfunding campaign involving anyone who identifies with femininity. The guiding idea was, and remains, to buy the island "to leave it alone."