Present!

Present! moves from the global context in the current historical phase, which is characterized by widespread difficulty in imagining the near future, particularly among theз youngest kids and the most fragile segments of the population, and the drastic reduction of public space in cities.

Anthropologist Appadurai identifies three dynamics that he believes are foundational to the well-being of communities: being able to imagine, have aspirations, and develop deep democracy.

Present.
is a public art project that works at the intersection of these dimensions from a local development perspective, promoting inclusion and social cohesion through the engagement of communities (intergenerational, intercultural, intersectional) in the reactivation of shared imaginaries for the future of territories.

Present!
focuses on two suburban areas of Modena: the Craftsman Village/Madonnina, where Amigdala has long been operating with the OvestLab public presidium, and the area Sacca, where he launched the C as a City with PA project in 2021. In addition to these two punctual spaces there is a third widespread one: the public city space, understood both as a place of proximity and as a new digital space. 

Present! is a relevant project for people, because it imagines: citizeninз activз able to direct the forms of transformation of their territories instead of passively undergoing them; new generations able to reconnect their interests and sociality with the urban fabric after the long months of digital isolation; Artistз, cultural workers as key social building blocks to break out of forced marginalization; a feminist city that allows women and fragile people to take a voice through art.

PERIPHERAL FESTIVAL, an event that, in addition to intensive programming in the form of a festival, develops throughout the calendar year with residencies, meetings, workshops, community and civic activation processes, and collaborations with schools and institutions in the city of Modena; it is a festival conceived as a unique work in dialogue with the public space and communities of the territories involved.

Slingshot – Collective Magazine of the Artisan Village.


, a place of civic imagination that stands between memory, the present and the future; it involves about 40 citizens, and access is always open.

INA Bag House, Modena leg of the INA Casa project. A home for one, a home for all. The Modena project is curated by Amigdala and Aidoru (Cesena) and is a winner of the 3rd edition of MIC’s Creative Living Lab call for proposals.

BALENO BOTTEGA.


, a permanent workshop on the relationship between body, movement and city dedicated to the youngest, in collaboration with Daina Pignatti / MUVet (Bologna).

RADIO PRESENT!, radio podcasts disseminated digitally and streamed on the frequencies of

NEU RADIO

, a Bologna-based webradio.

KIN. Building unseen kinships, a large experimental workshop dedicated to the city and feminism, within which they take shape:

a new artistic creation

, a project of meetings and assemblies on the right to the city, the vitality of the chorus

Les Chemin des Femmes

in rehearsal at OvestLab and many other timely actions.

OVESTLAB, a hybrid cultural center, a community workshop, a space that promotes processes of participation, engagement, education, creation, civic imagination and encounter. The space is co-managed with Cesare Leonardi Architect Archive Association.