Stories from the margins - Toscanaincontemporanea2019
The Racconti dal Margine project (Stories from the Margin), created by the Siena Art Institute in collaboration with Siena Art Photo Travel, RadioArte and TVSpenta and with the contribution of the Tuscany Region and GiovaniSì for Toscanaincontemporanea2019, involved both emerging and established Italian and international artists.
Through the project, the artists worked together with communities which are socially and geographically considered on the margins of the Sienese identity: elderly people in rest homes, prisoners, migrants and immigrants, people with disabilities, communities in the periphery.
The stories of these meetings, created by social and cultural professionals, artists, and members of marginalized communities, were part of a storytelling project that presented Siena and its province through multiple points of view, rejecting any traditional hierarchy between the center and the community's edges.
Project curators were the Rotterdam artist duo Bik Van der Pol for the artistic component and Dr. Antonia Liguori from the University of Loughborough (UK) consulting in digital storytelling.
One of the key people involved is John K. Melvin, artist and architect, who was the protagonist of a two-month residence at the Siena Art Institute.
John K. Melvin and his Voci dal Vento
John Kenneth Melvin is an international Eco-Artist producing artworks inspired by nature and culture. Melvin inspires cross-cultural exchange and his eco-art projects take him all over the world. He has created public art installations for 15 years.
John has partnered with the Siena Art Institute in the project “Racconti dal Margine” (Tales from the Margin) financed through the Region of Tuscany for Toscanaincontemporanea2019.
Siena is home to many people. Siena is made up of smaller communities that sometimes get lost in the crowd, but who can connect through story-telling.
The Artist performed workshops in the community where participants inscribed bamboo wind-chimes with their stories, thoughts, and feelings. John Melvin focused on bamboo wind chimes as they are low-tech, ecological, and generally risk-averse solution to community building. In short, the universal charm of bamboo wind-chimes overcomes participant’s inhibitions. The artist has worked with homes for the elderly, rehabilitation centers, schools and other micro-communities in Siena. These wind-chimes are the voices of their stories: their soft abstract melodies connect individual stories with collective place.
The installation functions as a meeting point and “icebreaker” for members of the community to find their wind chime or voice in the crowd of other windchimes and then share their experience with someone they happen to meet, starting dialog organically.
Siena is home to many people. Siena is made up of smaller communities that sometimes get lost in the crowd, but who can connect through story-telling.
The Artist performed workshops in the community where participants inscribed bamboo wind-chimes with their stories, thoughts, and feelings. John Melvin focused on bamboo wind chimes as they are low-tech, ecological, and generally risk-averse solution to community building. In short, the universal charm of bamboo wind-chimes overcomes participant’s inhibitions. The artist has worked with homes for the elderly, rehabilitation centers, schools and other micro-communities in Siena. These wind-chimes are the voices of their stories: their soft abstract melodies connect individual stories with collective place.
The installation functions as a meeting point and “icebreaker” for members of the community to find their wind chime or voice in the crowd of other windchimes and then share their experience with someone they happen to meet, starting dialog organically.
