MAGIC CARPETS 2025 – 2028

RESIDENCIES

After the final exhibition organised in Tartu of the first cycle of ‘Magic Carpets’, the journey of our flying carpets continues for another three years, ending in 2028.

As in past four years, the aim is to give more voice to the people involved, with the active participation of the communities in the projects organized with the artists in residence.

The projects become tools for shared actions with the public, which will interpret contemporary society, the idea of mutual understanding and shared responsibility, while expanding geographical and conceptual frontiers in different directions.

Residences Magic Carpets 2025-2028

YEAR #2

MAGIC CARPETS 2026 – IN/VISIBLE

Curated by Paola Farfaglio with the artistic direction of Benedetta Carpi De Resmini

Artist in residence: Lea Abendstein

Local artist: Flaminia Celata and Sara Palmieri, Federica Rugnone

MAGIC CARPETS - IN/VISIBLE

MAGIC CARPETS – IN/VISIBLE #2

July– November 2026, Casa famiglia – SPES CONTRA SPEM
Biblioteca Laurentina

Artists: Lea Abendstein
Flaminia Celata and Sara Palmieri
Federica Rugnone

IN/VISIBLE explores what, although hidden from sight, continues to inhabit places and relationships: memories, traces, everyday gestures, and collective imaginaries. Absence becomes the starting point for observing what changes and imagining new possibilities for connection. From July to November 2026, the project takes shape through artistic residencies, workshops, and participatory practices that engage communities in the artists’ research processes.

At Biblioteca Laurentina, Federica Rugnone works with children to create a map of the invisible Laurentino neighbourhood. Drawing inspiration from Italo Calvino’s Invisible Cities and using the cyanotype technique, participants bring to life a landscape of memories, people, places, desires, and perceptions: a collective representation of what often remains unseen in the neighbourhood.

Flaminia Celata and Sara Palmieri work with the community of the Spes contra Spem residential care home on Ritual of Presence. Their project begins with simple actions and everyday gestures that, through repetition and sharing, become opportunities to pay attention to others, listen to one another, and explore new ways of being together.

Lea Abendstein draws inspiration from the metamorphosis of butterflies to reflect on moments of transition and change. Through performative practices and participatory research activities, she explores transformation as a space open to new possibilities, together with the community of Biblioteca Laurentina.

Lea Abendstein

Flaminia Celata and Sara Palamieri

Federica Rugnone

Residences Magic Carpets 2025-2028

YEAR #1

MAGIC CARPETS 2025 – ROOTS AND ROUTES

Curated by Beatrice Morino with the artistic direction of Benedetta Carpi De Resmini

Artist in residence: Camille Orlandini

Local artist: Ombretta Gamberale, Gaia Scaramella

MAGIC CARPETS - Roots and Routes

MAGIC CARPETS – Roots and Routes #1

July– November 2025, Casa famiglia “L’Approdo” – SPES CONTRA SPEM
Biblioteca Galline Bianche, Labaro
Artists: CAMILLE ORLANDINI
OMBRETTA GAMBERALE
GAIA SCARAMELLA

“Roots and Routes” is an immersive artistic residency and collaborative initiative that brings people together through food. Involving various communities in Rome, the project explores the role of food in identity, belonging, and relationships. Deeply connected to cultural, spiritual, and mythological beliefs, food symbolizes life, abundance, and the human connection to nature. Through shared meals, storytelling, and creative experimentation, participants celebrate culinary heritage and reflect on transformation and adaptation over time.

The residency takes place in the Tufello and Labaro neighborhoods, located in the III and XV districts of Rome. French artist Camille Orlandini and Italian artist Ombretta Gamberale will collaborate with the young people of the Casa Famiglia “L’Approdo” from the Spes Contra Spem cooperative and with the Biblioteca Galline Bianche, while Italian artist Gaia Scaramella will hold art workshops at the same library.

During Gaia Scaramella’s workshop, children will become little chefs and discover milk in its many facets: from history and symbolism to cultural traditions. The experience will be enhanced by a creative installation designed to stimulate imagination and deepen the connection with this ingredient rich in meaning. Ombretta Gamberale’s workshop, aimed at families, will invite adults and children to share their food-related memories, recounting their favorite recipes and creating an illustrated recipe book with the artist. The book combines drawings and botanical printing, using dried, inked, and hand-printed aromatic herbs. It brings together memory, scents, and flavors into an emotional map. Camille Orlandini’s workshop will guide both adults and children in discovering bread, teaching the process of baking while sharing stories, symbols, and curiosities about this ancient food. Children will bring sourdough to life in a creative and sensory experience, with hands-on bread making and sharing.

Camille Orlandini