Fabrica: A Creative Utopia

1 Feb 2008 Category: Conscientious Design, Events & Exhibitions, Worldwide

Fabrica: A Creative Utopia

From the “Food for Life” advertising campaign created in 2003 by Fabrica in collaboration with the United Nations World Food Programme: By attending school, these two children in Kabul get both food and education. © James Mollison / Fabrica

Fabrica! Do we need to say more? Since 1994, the legendary Italian research centre has invited forty bright young artists from all over to its vast villa in Treviso (that just got a new makeover from acclaimed architect Tadao Ando.) Established by Benetton group founder Luciano Benetton and photographer and its then art director Oliviero Toscani, the institution serves as breeding ground for artists who devote themselves entirely to creative studies for one year. Now, after making a stopover in Milan and Shanghai, you can see Fabrica’s Les Yeux Ouvert (“Eyes Open to the World and the Future”) exhibition at Shiodome Italia in Tokyo, organised by the Pompidou Centre. It was a perfect opportunity for PingMag to grab Fabrica General Manager Alfio Pozzoni for a chat.

Written by Chiemi
Translated by Natsumi Yamane

First of all, how did you become the General Manager of Fabrica?

Once I was involved in a project commissioned by Fabrica and through the experience of working with young talents, I came to identify with a lot of Fabrica’s activities. After that, I accepted the Fabrica director’s offer to become a consultant for their special projects, and then became the General Manager in 2007. For this exhibition, I’m acting as the team leader.

Fabrica’s luxurious institution on the outskirts of Treviso, Italy, was restored by Tadao Ando. © Francesco Radino

The compound is just so huge… © Francesco Radino

And what exactly do you do?

The General Manager produces all of Fabrica’s projects, meaning, I gather specialists in the areas of interactive, graphic, design and music, attend meetings with organisations such as the United Nations and Reporters Without Borders, come up with ideas for new projects, and decide if they have the potential to be used in our campaigns and educational projects. Some of them are long-term and ongoing and span for more than a year, others associated with businesses are more commercial.

The “COLORS NOTEBOOK” project from the latest exhibition: Done in collaboration with Reporters Without Borders, people across the world had the chance to express themselves when they got sent blank notebooks and were asked to freely fill in the pages.

From the “COLORS NOTEBOOK” project: a spread of one of the notebooks that were sent back to Fabrica. © Aysha Ahmed

Nice collage/diary! Also from the “COLORS NOTEBOOK” project. © Natasja Maria Fourie

As we can see at the exhibition, Fabrica is probably best known for its COLORS magazine. But please tell us more about your other ongoing projects.

The graphic work on the ground floor is a project called “WFP (World Food Programme)” by the United Nations about education in Africa: This school feeding programme encourages children to stay in education by providing them with one nutritious meal each day. And Fabrica was responsible for the advertising campaign.

The ground floor displays of “FABRICA: LES YEUX OUVERTS” exhibition.

From the “I SEE” project in the current exhibition where six photographers observed modern developments: Here, photographer Lorenzo Vitturi’s “Oil Will Never End” deals with energy issues, focusing on the depletion of the oil fields in the Caspian Sea. © Lorenzo Vitturi / Fabrica

Also from the “I SEE” project: With “The Villamil Family - Divided Lives,” Leonie Purchas studied the concept of family and its role in society by documenting a family separated in Cuba and Los Angeles. © Leonie Purchas / Fabrica

Now we’d like to know exactly: How many applications do you receive and how many artists are in residence at Fabrica at the moment?

We receive approximately one hundred applications every week, so the selection process requires a good deal of time for us to go through the vast amount of portfolios. The artists who then come to Fabrica normally stay for one year, and we currently have around forty exhibiting artists. We will probably have around fifty for the academic year of 2008.

I looked into the application form at your website and got the impression that there is a rather high hurdle for us Japanese in terms of the language barrier. Do you get many from Japan?

There are some, but I wouldn’t say that there are many. However, Fabrica has a system to support people with limited understanding of English. We receive applications from across the world, including China and Africa, so Japanese applicants aren’t the only people with the language problem. The first two to three months might be tough - but in time, everyone will get used to it.


The programme “VIOLENCE” for the World Health Organisation in 2003 was a message against various forms of violence. This poster focuses on abuse of the elderly. © Gabriele Riva / Fabrica

Also from the “VIOLENCE” campaign: A poster against collective violence. © Gabriele Riva / Fabrica

Apart from the language issue, what other kind of supports can people get at Fabrica?

The selected artists receive financial support such as housing, expenses and a stipend to help them pursue their research at the institution. They study various fields of art including graphics, photography and cinema alongside professionals, and gradually start to participate in works related to visual communication. There are numerous encounters at Fabrica, and I would say that it’s a place where young artists’ dreams come true.

What do the artists do after they have finished their studies at Fabrica?

I’m not fully aware of what every single artist who used to study at Fabrica is doing, but many of them have become professionals in their own fields. And around half of them still work in collaboration with us. I frequently visit South America, where I hear about the activities of various former Fabrica residents from that region.


The “Road Safety” poster appeals to pedestrians and cyclists about the importance of wearing high visibility clothing. © Marian Grabmayer, Reed Young / Fabrica

“IF” is a project to visualise superstars or legends that died young, such as John Lennon and Marilyn Monroe, if they were alive today. © Erik Ravelo / Fabrica

The title of this exhibition, “LES YEUX OUVERTS,” means “to open the eyes and look at the now.” Tell us about the message behind this, please.

The concept of this exhibition is to incorporate environmental and social elements and project it in each artist’s unique ways. We wanted people to look at their surrounding environments and study people in different societies, and pay respect to those. The works in this exhibition were chosen by myself and the Pompidou Centre in Paris especially to convey the spirit of what is going on at Fabrica now. Also, as far as the technological works are concerned, we selected interactive works to help make Japanese people’s understanding easier.

The installation “We are the time. We are the famous” invites visitors to take part. © Andy Cameron, Hans Raber, David McDougall, Oriol Ferrer Mesía / Fabrica

“Locus” by the Japanese artist Nobuhisa Ishizuka uses people standing in front of the camera. © Nobuhisa Ishizuka

Finally, what’s your message to young and aspiring Japanese artists coming to this exhibition?

There are many incredible talents at Fabrica, and we hope you would be a part of it too. Our doors are always open.

Mr. Pozzoni of Fabrica, thank you for your inspiring conversation today! And to you, beloved reader, we are curious about your comments on the exhibition…


“FABRICA: LES YEUX OUVERTS” poster for Fabrica’s first exhibition in Japan.

Alfio Pozzoni, General Manager of Fabrica.

Info:
“LES YEUX OUVERTS” Exhibition
Venue: Shiodomeitalia Creative Center, Tokyo.
Dates: Running until Sunday March 2nd, 2008.
Admission: Adults ¥700, students ¥500.

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