Federico Clavarino

An Image of Water

3-month intensive comprising two workshops, an art residency, scheduled Zoom tutorials, and an exhibition

For our very first long-term workshop intensive, Federico Clavarino will lead participants on a three-month mind-expanding adventure that will consist of an art residency, one-on-one Zoom tutorials, and an exhibition. Federico has poured his heart into designing this workshop, and to maintain a focused, personalized experience, we will only be accepting six applicants.

Santorini is the site of the residency and the exhibition, and it is also Federico’s inspiration for this special workshop. Below, he explains what you can expect…

In Santorini, wherever you look there is water. After a few days there, it becomes the canvas of your vision, its beginning and end. Water is both what separates the island from the rest of the world, making it what it is, and what connects it to everything else. It is both a road and a wall. For Santorini, as a consequence of the eruption, water is also both its “inside” and “outside.” Water is also a source of nourishment and life: Think of fishing, swimming, diving, irrigating. It is, of course, also a powerful storytelling engine: from The Odyssey to more contemporary tales, the crossing of seas is at the center of many narratives.
More generally speaking, water is what our own bodies are made of, for the most part. Water is thirst. As a fluid, it takes the shape of whatever contains it. Depending on the situation, it will reflect or refract light, and it can be a mirror or a window, like a photograph. Water is, of course, a powerful symbol.

During this workshop, six photographers are going to pick up the challenge of creating an image of water. How can we succeed in creating an image for something so elusive and yet so important to us? We are going to look at a lot of examples of works that have addressed this topic as well as similar challenges, within and outside the medium of photography, and we will all work on a project that will possibly take us from the island to somewhere else.

There is no limit to the approaches people can adopt. Projects can be documentary nature, for example, dealing with how water informs the lives of people (fishing, tourism, migration, etc.), but they might also, for instance, address water as matter and use it as part of photographic processes. Participants might also adopt more poetic approaches that rely on metaphor or oblique narratives.

The workshop’s outcome will be an exhibition that will bring together all of the participants’ works and is going to be split into two physical appointments, in which we are going to work together on the participants’ projects; one residency period, during which the latter will spend time working on the island; and a series of individual Zoom tutorials in between. The first appointment on the island will be devoted to setting up the groundwork for the projects: initial explorations, first ideas, and some input from Federico. The residency period will be devoted to research and/or making, depending on the nature of each project. The second workshop period is going to be the lead-up to the exhibition: final edits, layout, installation.
Participants will be expected to have enough familiarity with photographic processes (analogue, digital, and/or algorithmic), but we strongly encourage the participation of practitioners coming from other fields. The more diverse the group we manage to put together, the better.

We think of the workshop as a way of assembling a research group whose aim will be to explore ways we can turn water into art. Our hope is that participants will be able to take a lot from the experience by acquiring creative tools, by expanding their knowledge base, and by letting the encounter with others as well as the place itself change the way they work, as well as themselves.

TIME TABLE  OF 3 MONTH INTENSIVE + EXHIBITION

• First 5-day workshop will take place on May 1-5, 2025
  

First appointment on the island will be devoted to setting up the groundwork for the projects: initial explorations, first ideas, and some input from Federico

• Art Residency at The Palm Tree Workshops Space: May 6-11, 2025  (6 days)

The residency period will be devoted to research and/or making, depending on the nature of each participants project

• Zoom meetings: June and July

Individual Zoom tutorials with Federico. Zoom shedules will be announced soom

• Second 5-day workshop will take place on July 21-25, 2025
  

Second workshop period is going to be the lead-up to the exhibition: final edits, layout, installation.

• Exhibition will take place in Santorini on July 27 and it will run for 15 days. Venue will be announced soon