This year, for the first time, the annual event dedicated to performance art “Performance Cluster 2024 – Beyond the Pale” was entirely organised, managed and produced by a group of RUFA students enrolled in the two-year Fine Arts master’s programme: Bianca Burattini, Carter Helmandollar, Ángela Sánchez Ruiz, and Eleonora Sgroi. Lead curation by Vittorio Venturoli.
18 – 22 March 2024 – Pastificio Cerere, Via degli Ausoni, 7. Admission open to the public.
For this year’s Performance Cluster, Beyond the Pale, the artists of RUFA were asked to reflect on language as an instrument that gives shape to the intangible substance of thoughts.
The selected performances not only convey meaning through non-conventional forms of communication, but also manifest their own unique architectures—a complexity generated by their chosen manipulations of linguistic structures. Some stand tall, arching over the thoughts of others, while some spread endlessly across steady ground. Language transforms the flux of conscience into a stable fortress where perception is confined within the static rules of reason. These rules guide our thoughts into the structured realm of Logic. Like towering walls, they obscure the unknown, leaving us to navigate labyrinthine pathways unaware of certainties. These remnants are a testimony to the limits of our language, marking the boundary between what is able to logically exist and what is left unknown.
Let us ask you, as you enter our space: What do you think lies outside this fortress, beyond language and logic? Is it possible to perceive that which has escaped these walls? Where is the tangible border of logic and how close can we stand to it?
The Performance Cluster has been held annually in Rome, Italy by the Rome University of Fine Arts since 2021, originally developed and curated by RUFA professors and led by performance artist and Visual Arts coordinator Marta Jovanavić.
The fourth annual installment of the Cluster, Beyond The Pale, will be hosted from March 18th – 22nd, 2024 at the RUFA Space in San Lorenzo. This year marks the first entirely student-run production of the event, organised by a selection of students from the MFA programme in their final year of academic instruction at RUFA: Bianca Burattini (1997, Brazil), Carter Helmandollar (2000, United States), Ángela Sánchez Ruiz (1999, Spain), and Eleonora Sgroi (1999, Italy) with lead curation by Vittorio Venturoli (1998, Italy). Their roles include not only curational duties, but also those of proposal selection jurors, administrative lesions, logistical strategists, social media managers, and event coordinators in order to encourage the growth and longevity of this festival in the years to come.
Open to all students at RUFA—both Italian and international, within all disciplines and levels—the 2024 Cluster had many performance and video art proposal submissions to be considered within the chosen theme of language, in its many interpretations.
Out of these proposals, the jury selected the 24 following artists to participate in Beyond The Pale:
Curated by Bianca Burattini: Giulia Bergantino (2000, Italy), Laurian Opdebeeck (2000, Belgium), Rodrigo M. Soto (1992, Mexico), & Nadia Vallino (2000, Italy)
Curated by Carter Helmandollar: Sofía Arredondo Vidal (1999, Colombia), Janneke Leenders (2003, Netherlands), Ginevra Mazzoni (2002, Italy), Alvi Östgård (2001, Norway/Sweden), & Bianca Poláková (2000, Slovakia)
Curated by Ángela Sánchez Ruiz: Matteo Baccino (2000, Italy), Mariana Colombo (1988, Argentina), Giulio Gamba (1997, Switzerland), Gianluca Ricco (2000, Italy), & Giulia Rosini (2000, Italy)
Curated by Eleonora Sgroi: Federica Chiarucci (1994, Italy), Alessandra di Cicco (1999, Italy), Valentina Formiconi (2003, Italy), Hafsa Moin (1996, Pakistan), & Giulia Vitiello (2002, Italy)
Curated by Vittorio Venturoli: Marco Aurelio (1996, Italy), Giulia Felici (1995, Italy), Lale Jo Kirschner (1997, Germany), Daria Shoshani (1998, Israel), & Chantal Spapens (1970, France/Netherlands)
The curatorial team is also grateful to have the participation and collaboration of the RUFA Photography and Audiovisual Department, directed by professor Michele Palazzi, who are helping to create documentation archives of the event for the long-term appreciation of both our participating artists and the public.
Photographers: Andrea Bloemendal, Aurora Campana, Gaia Del Piano, Domitilla Di Mattia, Ludovica Lucciola, Sara Scognamiglio, Christian Quatela
See the Performance Cluster 2024 event calendar
Special thanks to Melany Parasole, RUFA Managing Director, for making it possible to award the prizes to this year’s winners, and to Silvia Caramella for her brilliant support of the curatorial team.
