15LAB is a cycle of free workshops dedicated to children and young people. The meetings were held from December 2022 until May 2023, followed by a final event where the works conceived and created during the months with the young participants were presented.
Each multidisciplinary workshop turned into an experiential moment, where participants shared space and time through play and creativity. The series of workshops included performance activities, comics, video, photography, drawing and much more. It is in line with the mission of the Libraries of Rome, which includes activities to promote culture and reading for children and young people. The project aims to encourage young library users to create new stories themselves by stimulating reading.
Starting from the desire of the Istituzione Biblioteche di Roma to relaunch the Galline Bianche Library, Latitudo Art Projects realised the 15LAB project in the Labaro district for a period of 6 months. The idea arose from the urgent need to create a centre for cultural and social aggregation, a place to explore one’s creativity.
15LAB was born from the idea of the City of 15 minutes, a residential urban concept in which most of the daily needs of residents can be met by walking or cycling in 15 minutes. 15LAB unites the identity of the neighbourhood with the design idea, which employs a participatory and workshop practice as a distinctive element, a project that places the individual and our eco-system at the centre.
I laboratori sono stati condotti dagli artisti Jacopo Natoli, Marco Raparelli, Chiara Mu e John Cascone insieme ai fotografi Luis Do Rosario e Isabella Mancioli che hanno animato tutti i venerdì, a partire da dicembre 2022 a maggio 2023, gli spazi della biblioteca e del quartiere.
Jacopo Natoli‘s workshops combine the practice of the artist’s book, loose time drawing and urban exploration. The book becomes a tool for playing with forms and confronting space.
During the meetings, fanzines were created, experimenting with different materials and formats, playing with and exploring urban space. Jacopo inspired the young participants to find their own creative spark.
ZINELAB workshops:
Friday, December 16
Friday, February 17
Friday, March 24
Friday, April 28
For his meetings, artist Marco Raparelli thought of a collective portrait to be made with children and young people. The idea of creating a portrait of a companion or neighbor, intends to start from a more classical drawing, then arriving at an interpretive portrait.
The artist worked with creativity and imagination, associating the companion portrayed by the young participants with a poetic vision. What was devised and collected during the workshops became part of the publication Guarda mamma! Io, scribacchio.
STORYLAB workshops:
Thursday, January 26
Friday, February 10
Friday, March 17
Friday, April 21
The Color Hunt is a photographic treasure hunt, conceived by photographers Luis Do Rosario and Isabella Mancioli, in which all clues lead to the treasure, the final exhibit. The photographic shots that the young participants took wind along the paths that connect 5 key points of Labaro, each point can be walked in 5 minutes.
During the workshops the youngsters used analog cameras, getting in touch with the idea of photography that is no longer instantaneous but will be revealed in its own time.
COLORLAB workshops:
Friday, January 13
Friday, February 24
Friday, March 31
Friday, May 05
Artist and performer Chiara Mu teaches a sense of empathy, a skill we are not born with but can learn from childhood. The workshop is designed as a place to explore how we relate to others.
Through play and targeted activities, even the youngest participants are allowed to dialogue about what a sense of community means. During the meetings, participants delved into how to inhabit their own emotions and bodies, up to and including exploring how others experience them.
BODYLAB workshops:
Friday, January 20
Friday, March 03
Thursday, April 13
Friday, May 12
The work of artist John Cascone focuses on the analysis of the real as the creation and construction of narratives. The artist activates an exploration of the imaginary, rewriting and redrawing the possibilities of the real.
With John, the “young explorers” wrote short stories drawing inspiration from the library and its surroundings. The stories were woven together in order to turn them into a single text that became the script for the creation of a video.
FILMLAB workshops:
Friday, January 27
Friday, March 10
Friday, April 14
Friday, May 19
The final day of the 15LAB project was held on Friday, May 26. It was a time of exchange, meeting and presentation of the collective works created over the months.
The works created during the 15LAB project were presented at the final event.
