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Okada Buluma (Nairobi, 1982), educatore e social practice artist è il secondo artista in residenza del progetto europeo Common Places, che si sta sviluppando tra Barcellona, Perdaxius e Lubiana.

Okada è conosciuto in Kenia e internazionalmente per la qualità del lavoro da lui svolto a favore dell’infanzia e della gioventù svantaggiata. Okada ha sperimentato nel corso degli anni metodi educativi creativi che mettono al centro il bambino attraverso il gioco e una pratica di apprendimento ludica.
Con Okada Buluma è attivo da anni un percorso di cooperazione con Cherimus dal 2014, che si è concretizzato nella realizzazione di due progetti (Ciak! Kibera e Carnival!Nairobi) finanziati dalla regione Sardegna grazie alla Legge Regionale 11 aprile 1996, n. 19, e da altre collaborazioni eccezionali che hanno portato la comunità perdaxina ad accogliere la statua lignea di Santu Jacu scolpita a Nairobi insieme a Charles Nshimmy.

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La residenza comincia con una visita al Museo archeologico nazionale di Cagliari, attraverso secoli di storia e di intrecci tra culture del Mediterraneo. Le sfingi e altri reperti ritrovati in Sardegna testimoniamo la presenza dei culti di Iside e Osiride nell’isola, mentre altri manufatti funerari e legati alla vita quotidiana sono gli stessi esposti nel Museo Nazionale di Beirut. La visita è proseguita passando in rassegna i Giganti di Mont’e Prama, i modellini sacri dei nuraghi e i bellissimi bronzetti nuragici. Una passeggiata in città tra strade assolate ha chiuso questa gita speciale. Da domani ci aspetta una settimana di attività tra Sulcis e Iglesiente.

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Workshop a cura di Okada Buluma e Cherimus con un gruppo di persone ospiti delle strutture di Casa Emmaus (Iglesias) provenienti da Egitto, Tunisia, Albania e Afganistan.
Okada ha invitato tutti a scrivere o disegnare qualcosa di importante per loro, un ricordo, un sogno. Sono emerse storie, a volte legate a momenti del lungo viaggio che li ha portati in Sardegna, la nostalgia di casa. Queste riflessioni si sono trasformate in colore e pittura, e poi in una mappa di tutte le narrazioni. Okada, attraverso il colore, ha trovato una lingua comune, un paesaggio, un luogo d’incontro e di conoscenza straordinario.

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Conferenza “Orizzonti di cooperazione”, sala consiliare del Comune di Perdaxius.
Okada ha raccontato il suo percorso professionale nel campo dell’educazione di bambine e bambini che vivono nelle strade di Nairobi. La costruzione di un rapporto di fiducia attraverso il gioco, la valorizzazione delle unicità dell’individuo e dell’espressione di sé, la perseveranza e la pazienza sono gli ingredienti di un percorso che ha accompagnato tante bambine e bambini fuori dalla strada. Di seguito Okada, Emiliana Sabiu e Matteo Rubbi co-fondatori di Cherimus, hanno parlato dei progetti sviluppati insieme a Koinonia Community a Nairobi, in cui artisti, musicisti, e educatori hanno lavorato insieme alle comunità di bambine e bambini che vivono in strada per rappresentare e dare forma ai loro sogni e al loro futuro. Alla conferenza erano presenti attori istituzionali e rappresentanti delle associazioni del territorio interessati ad attivare un dialogo sul tema della povertà educativa mettendo al centro la formazione e l’aggiornamento di tutti i componenti della comunità educante: famiglie, insegnanti, educatori.

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Workshop in collaborazione con l’associazione Elda Mazzocchi Scarzella di Domusnovas. Okada, insieme a Cherimus, ha incontrato un gruppo di bambine e bambini, esplorando il tema dei racconti e delle storie come radici della propria identità sia come individui che come comunità.
Alcune delle storie hanno avuto come protagonista il territorio di Domusnovas, le sue grotte, le sue miniere, le sue montagne. Altre erano fiabe classiche, altre ancora racconti di invenzione. Al termine del workshop le storie, tradotte in uno storyboard di disegni sono state messe in fila e ricombinate dai bambini dando vita ad un nuovo racconto.

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Visita a Barrancu Mannu, uno dei siti archeologici e naturali più belli e magici del Sulcis. Situato nei pressi di Santadi, il sito ospita una tomba dei giganti e altri resti di epoche antichissime.

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Preparazione del Chapati keniano insieme a Emilia Brunoro.
In occasione del sabato di Pasqua, sarà offerto accompagnato da ricotta e miele, ceci e fagioli, come merenda a bambine, bambini, famiglie e a tutti i partecipanti ad un incontro organizzato dal comune di Perdaxius al parco di San Leonardo.
Nello stesso pomeriggio bambine e bambini sono stati invitati ad un workshop di disegno e pittura speciale, immaginando e dipingendo creature magiche contenute in gigantesche uova aliene.

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Pesaus a contus / كلنا حكايات nasce nell’ambito di On the move! Un teatro in viaggio per il Libano progetto di cooperazione tra Cherimus (Sardegna) e Hammana Artist House (Libano) finanziato dalla Regione autonoma della Sardegna.

Il progetto ha coinvolto otto artiste nell’abito delle arti performative residenti in Libano:

Maya Aghniadis, compositrice e arrangiantrice
Sarah Almoneem, artista perfomativa
Patricia Habchy, regista
Monà Hallab, soprano lirico
Nivine Kallas, physical narrator and director
Tracy Khoueiry, artista perfomativa
Chantal Mailhac, cantastorie e musicista
Sarah Mashmoushy, artista perfomativa

e due artisti residenti in Sardegna:

Carlo Spiga, artista visivo e musicista
Sara Deidda, fotografa e filmmaker

Artiste ed artisti hanno sviluppato e messo in scena nel corso di una residenza presso la sede di Hammana Artist House due nuove performance: “Tarantism”, ideata e diretta da Nivine Kallas e “La notte più lunga della mia vita”, ideata e diretta da Chantal Mailhac.
Nel corso di due settimane intense artiste ed artisti hanno condiviso gli stessi spazi, vissuto nella piccola e accogliente realtà di Hammana e attivato un confronto artistico con l’esperto staff di Hammana Artist House che ha portato nuova linfa alle due performance in costruzione.

Al termine della residenza le performance hanno debuttato ad Hammana con un pubblico di giovanissimi provenienti dalle scuole della cittadina. Successivamente la piccola tournée è proseguita a Rmeileh, al “Centre socio éducatif Fratelli” e a Beirut presso l’orfanotrofio islamico.

Carlo Spiga ha collaborato con Nivine Kallas, Sarah Mashmoushy, Sarah Almoneem, e Tracy Khoueiry alla creazione di una colonna sonora originale per la performance “Tarantism” utilizzando strumenti tradizionali e sperimentali sardi
Sara Deidda ha creato un documentario per raccontare il progetto lavorando a stretto contatto con artiste ed artisti, raccogliendo spunti, idee e sfide dalle partecipanti così come da tutto lo staff di Hammana.

Il documentario “Pesaus a contus / كلنا حكايات ” è stato presentato per la prima volta nello Spazio Antas di San Sperate il 27 settembre 2022.

Tutte le immagini presentate nel sito sono realizzate da Sara Deidda o tratte da materiale da lei girato.

Il progetto “On the move! Un teatro in viaggio per il Libano” sostiene l’azione sociale e culturale di Hammana Artist House nelle comunità più marginali del territorio anche a livello tecnologico. Un potente sistema di batterie ricaricabili sta aiutando il regolare svolgimento di parte delle attività oggi fortemente frenate dalla grave crisi economica ed energetica che sta attraversando il paese.

Chantal Mailhac and Mona Hallab tell and sing on stage the story of Ba’al, the Phoenician’s “God of the rain, that climbs the clouds and come back with fertility; he lives above the clouds. During his time nature is green, colorful, full of fruits, flowers […]”

The night of the title refers to the winter solstice night, the longest of the year, before days start to be longer again. The tradition contains many points later taken up by Christianity (Jesus’ birth on the solstice and the death/resurrection process). Ba’al later became, as many gods with horns -he is associated with the constellation of Taurus-, one of the enemies of God, one of the ways to represent satan.

This performance wants to revive a story that has deep roots in Lebanese and Levantine history as well as in many places of the Mediterranean Sea, including Sardinia.
In Sardinia the figure of the bull was one of the most widespread in antiquity, and it is the base today for some of the famous masks used for carnival rituals.

Thanks to the histrionic and playful storytelling of Chantal, the voice of Mona, the support of Patricia Habchy for the mise-en-scène and of Maya Aghniadis for the music composition, the legend of Ba’al came back to life and was told and sung in front of the audience of students, children and young adults.

Tarantism is the name of a traditional “magical-religious” music therapy practice once very common in Puglia and in the regions of southern Italy.
The performance by Nivine Kallas, unfolds through a series of scenes narratively centering the human body and its struggle to face present time challenges
As physical narrator and director Nivine Kallas says: “Tarantism is a performance that tackles
an irresistible invitation to move, as a form of expression that can be violent yet therapeutic, now the pain is triggered pushing the body to face it is shadows.”
A complex exchange of glances, a fight, a constant attempt to reconnect, to heal, all through a multifaceted dance, that combine different methods and techniques.
Visual artist and musician Carlo Spiga has developed an unprecedented collaboration with the performers Nivine Kallas, Tracy Khoueiry, Sarah Almoneem, Sarah Mashmoushy and experimented with new ways of using launeddas, trunfa, and throat singing. These three elements are traditional instruments of Sardinian dances. During this residency Carlo Spiga had the chance to build a bridge between “Tarantism” and the Sardinian ritual named “Argia”, connected as well with the bite of a spider (the black widow) and with dance as a therapy practice.
Photographer Sara Deidda is collaborating with the 8 artists in residence as well, thanks to a collaboration with Eja Tv, exploring day by day ways to film the performances and find a way to tell a story through images, rather than merely documenting it.

Sarah Mashmoushy

Sarah Almoneem

Tracy Khoueiry

Nivine Kallas

Alessandro Di Giampietro
Butterfly Etude

A group of people was invited to the entrance of an abandoned mine. Everyone flew their kites, and the sky in front of the iron tower of the mine was filled with colors: for a brief moment, a lost place was revived. The action was then captured in a photograph.

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Cleo Fariselli
Gigante Montagna

Coming from ancient folk tales, the Giant Mountain created during the workshops with the children was installed on holidays in the central square of the town. Inside, you could take refuge, play, write, and draw, like in a magical, forgotten time.

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Marco Colombaioni
Maschere, autovolanti e macchine del tempo

During the Luna Park Party workshops, children created a fantastic world from the material they gathered, creating self-flying cars, roller coasters, colorful masks, water parks, and a time machine that was then made available to all during the days of the party.

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Derek MF Di Fabio
Strumenti rumorosissimi

Reconstructing sounds that were lost who-knows-where; imagining a noisy burst of sounds from found objects used as instruments; trumpeting on a symphony of jars.
During the workshop, the children of Perdaxius assembled materials they collected from the families, hypothesizing new uses for them and experimenting with new sounds. On the last day of the celebration, the whole town could hear their noisy parade through the the center of town.

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Giovanni Giaretta
Cinema Perdaxius

With simple elements, such as shaving mirrors and small neon lights, rudimentary projectors have been built, a minimalist cinema. During the workshop with the children of Perdaxius, portraits of the aliens of the country were drawn, a parade of presences that are not there. On the days of the festival the silhouettes were projected in the library, which for three days became Perdaxius’s cinema.

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Leonardo Chiappini
Origami

Small and large ducks, seals, colorful breeds, populate the square and the crevices of an ancient mud house in Perdaxius. Made during the workshop, the origami were arranged by the children all around their village.

Diego, second grade, has imagined and designed a time machine. The machine was built together with Marco Colombaioni and became an attraction of the the feast day of Saint James for many years

In 2014, the statue of Perdaxius’ patron saint, Santu Jacu (St James), was accidentally shattered during the yearly procession dedicated to him, when it got caught in a festival ribbon hanging over the street. The fall of the saint upset the community, who viewed it as a sign of future misfortunes. 

The following May, while in Nairobi for the Darajart residency project, Cherimus decided to reinvent a new statue for Perdaxius with Nairobi-based artist Charles Nshimiyimana.

Once back in Sardinia, the sculpture was completed with the aid of the people of Perdaxius during Caro Giacomo 2015. The eyes of the saint are made of coal extracted from the mines of Serbariu in Carbonia, while his walking stick is made of wild olive wood.

Once finished, the statue was donated to the town of Perdaxius. The town, however, was reluctant to welcome it because of its Masai-like features and its unconventional clothes, which seemed to them more suited to a pilgrim than to a saint. Eventually, though, people started to pray in front of the saint.

In 2016, the statue was thus used for the first time for the festival of the patron saint’s yearly procession.
During the 2016 festival of Caro Giacomo, Cherimus hosted Brera’s collective OUT 44 (Giorgio Cellini, Chiara Peru, Camilla Garelli), and visual artists Marco Pezzotta, Simone Berti, e Vanina Lappa. During the days of the festival we collaborated with Perdaxius-based association Su Nuraghe to design a new kind of pastry with the shape of a scallop shell (the symbol of St. James and of pilgrimages) to be offered to the inhabitants. From Dina Marongiu and the other members of the Su Nuraghe association, artists learned a traditional way to shape bread for special occasions (su coccoi) and an old way to bake it; they then designed breads with unexpected shapes, some of them resembling, in miniature, the saint’s new statue.

On the main evening of the festival, traditional poet and inventor Francesco Capuzzi sang a poem he wrote about the story of the new saint’s statue. The new poem was performed at Bar Trullu in the center of the town.

After the festival, the sculpture of the saint was placed in the old countryside church of St James, where inhabitants now often go to visit it.

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They have found ancient documents about the birth of Perdaxius


They have found ancient documents. Due a flag placed too low…


The old saint broke into pieces due to a flag placed too low


Before the Roman age, here lived the Carthaginians


Before the Roman age, the new Saint was born far away, from a Rwandese father, in the land of Kenia


He spent his youth in the lake of Tiberias


Someone who saw him said he does not quite look like the old one


The must ferments bubbling in every tub


St James was born in Palestine, so tell me who is the right one?



(Francesco Capuzzi)

During the first edition of Caro Giacomo, in 2008, artist Marco Colombaioni, co-founder of Cherimus, decided to display a painting on a wall in a small square of the town, in the spirit of that first edition that invited the artists to propose and install artworks outdoors or in public spaces of Perdaxius. 

At that time, Marco Colombaioni had already taken a series of trips to Nairobi where he had worked and collaborated with artists based there, and was intensively studying Kanga textiles, popular items produced and used in Kenya and Tanzania. Each Kanga has a specific meaning, containing a message, a proverb, or an aphorism.

This painting has the structure of a Kanga, with a large decorative frame and, in the center, a scene with two birds and a hibiscus flower. One bird is flying away, and the other is approaching the flower. In Swahili, the phrase on the painting says: dreams guide us, but we must act. The painting was exhibited for the three days of the town feast. On one of these nights, the painting was vandalized, necessitating a restoration of the piece.

Later, Colombaioni collaborated on a project with sociologist Judith Raymond Mushi, who started the first university course on Swahili language and culture in Milan. The project focused on fighting homophobia through the production of new special Kangas with new messages. Together, Colombaioni and Mushi organized a Kanga Kokomanga Party in January 2011 to raise funds to support the project. They also worked together on a design for a new Kanga with a quote by Pasolini: “L’innocenza è una colpa,” which translates to “Innocence is a fault.”
This fruitful collaboration ended suddenly when Marco Colombaioni passed away in July 2011.

At the end of July of that year, for the Festival of Saint James, Cherimus organized a celebration in honor of Marco in the small square where the painting had been shown a few years before. A 1:1 scale reproduction on paper of his work “Dreams guide us, but we must act” was installed on the same wall where the painting once hung. That evening, visual artist Emiliana Sabiu presented, for the second time, “Twenty Cakes.” In this piece, 20 real cakes and pies made by the community of Perdaxius were displayed on a table with an elegant tablecloth. Artist Samba “Bathie” Tounkara curated the music for the celebration and provided touba coffee to the attendees.

In 2014, for the annual festival of Caro Giacomo, Cherimus decided to make a permanent mosaic version of the painting on that same wall. The mosaic was made using tile samples offered by various retailers in collaboration with visual artists Gemma Noris, Josè Chaves, Scarlett Lingwood, Hamdy Reda, Andrea Rossi, and Carlo Spiga.

September 7th, Elmas

September 8th, Monte Gonare

September 12th, Teatro Massimo, Cagliari

September 14th, Perdaxius

September 16th, Semestene

September 17th, Conservatorio, Cagliari