TrackDesign takes part in the UNA BOCCATA D'ARTE project, which will be held in Maruggio (TA) from 24 June to 24 September 2023.
The contemporary art project, promoted by the Elpis Foundation in collaboration with Galleria Continua and with the participation of Threes.

Every year 20 villages and towns throughout Italy, one per region, welcome 20 Italian and international artists of different ages, backgrounds and practices, who are invited to spend a short period of residence.

The artists create 20 interventions in relation to the territory and the traditions of the local communities that welcome them. The inaugurations will be held this Saturday 24 and Sunday 25 June in all the villages.

In Puglia, the village of Maruggio (TA) hosts the Barely Invisible Cities project by the artist Evita Vasiļjeva (Riga, Latvia, 1985), coordinated by VOGA Art Project and created under the patronage of the President of the Council of the Puglia Region and the Municipality of Maruggio.

The artist dwells on the rhythmic presence of recurring elements in the village, such as fences and gates, proposing an overcoming of their exclusive function.

We at TrackDesign have helped Evita Vasiļjeva to give life to works aimed at openness and sharing: three CORTEN bench-portals that take possession of the aesthetics of rusty railings combined with large multi-seat seats. An invitation to stop, meet and exchange, sitting down and imagining together, just like Marco Polo and Kublai Khan in Italo Calvino's "The Invisible Cities".

The evolution and transformation of gates and railings transformed into usable and habitable platforms, the artist leads the viewer to reflect on the importance of the encounter itself and of finding oneself, in order to be able to transform the boundaries and perspectives of ancient lands but tending towards the own future.

Evita Vasiļjeva says: “Time seems to stand still in Maruggio, as if the inhabitants knew how to slow it down. Fragments of history make their way between stone walls and traces of saints. Another timeline emerges, invisible. This threshold is my starting point: a portal that protects the past and the future of Maruggio”

Una Boccata d'Arte is an invitation to discover through the sharing of different artistic practices and languages, it is a project spread throughout the Italian territory.

     Works exhibited:
     • Evita Vasiljeva, Barely Invisible Cities (I), 2023. Laser engraving and cutting on corten steel, 270 x 170 x 45 cm. Churchyard of the Mother Church of the Nativity of the Virgin Mary, via Umberto I, 64, Maruggio

     • Evita Vasiljeva, Barely Invisible Cities (II), 2023, Laser engraving and cutting on corten steel, 300 x 150 x 90cm. Secondary entrance to the Gardens of Palazzo Caniglia, between via Umberto I and via Verdi, Maruggio

     •Evita Vasiljeva, Barely Invisible Cities (III), 2023. Laser engraving and cutting on corten, 280 x 200 x 60 cm. Via Umberto I, 99, Maruggio

The artist has participated in the Lyon Biennial (FR, 2022) and Baltic Triennial 14 (LT, 2021). Recent solo and group exhibitions include those at: Cēsis Contemporary Art Center, Cēsis(LT, 2022); Publiek Park, in collaboration with SMAK, Gent (BE, 2021); Salon de Normandy byt he Community, Paris (FR, 2020); Latvian Center for Contemporary Art, Riga (LT, 2020); Muzeum Sztuki, Lodz (PL, 2020); Kim? Contemporary Art Center, Riga (LT, 2019); Tallinn City Gallery, Tallinn (EE, 2018); Foundation Ricard, Paris (FR, 2018); P/////AKT, Amsterdam (NL, 2017). Her works are part of the collection of the Latvian National Art Museum and numerous private collections Umberto I, 99, Maruggio


     Source: Press Release A Mouthful of Art