For 28 days, a community of 28 european artists explores various forms of artistic expression in a self-constructed ephemeral village located a few kilometers away from the city center. Self reliance is at the heart of this collective experience which promotes both participatory and environmental ethics : recycled green materials are used to build sustainable, temporary buildings, leaving no trace in Matera’s outstanding landscape.
This alternative architectural process is meant to promote a construction design in harmony with nature, and launch an architectural reflection throughout Italy and Europe. We can no longer ignore the disastrous effects of abusive resources exploitations and poor industrial waste management on our environment.
It also echoes Matera unique city morphology, as its troglodyte home (the ‘Sassi”) became the symbol of the population spirit of independence and marginality. Whether their inhabitants were resisting to invaders after the Byzantine period, joining monastic or utopian communities or suffering from housing precarity, they were conveying a unique sense of a “home” space.
The Prima Terra village is about reconnecting with a true sense of community in a miniature-scale Europe ; overcoming language and cultural barriers, away from the consumerist values.
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