On Friday, January 19, opens the exhibition “Creature di Sabbia” (Creatures of Sand), the concluding chapter of the eponymous and intricate artistic project aiming at promoting gender equality, address violated rights, and empower women from the Mediterranean region, twelve years after the Arab Springs.
Creature di Sabbia is funded by the Puglia Region Welfare Department, with state resources from the Ministry of Labor and Social Policies. It is part of the Puglia Social Capital 3.0 initiative. The project is promoted by the Agenzia per il Patrimonio Culturale Euromediterraneo, in collaboration with Associazione Positivo Diretto, the Polo Bibliomusela di Lecce, the Municipality of Lecce, and the N.O.I Salento Association.
It began its activities last May with a unique and intense artist residency focused on gender equality and violated women’s rights, twelve years after the Arab Spring. The residency aimed to raise awareness and provide artistic and social education on human rights through art.
The project involved four artists of Arab and Middle Eastern origin who reside in Italy for study or work, along with peers from similar backgrounds, culture, and religion, residing in Lecce and actively engaged in intercultural mediation. The group delved into intense exploration and creative processes, addressing themes of oppression and violence against women through various forms of expression: narrative, painting, design, photography, cinema, and visual arts. Sociological, anthropological, and social stimuli enriched their experience.
As a culmination of this journey, the four young artists—two Iranians, one Tunisian, and one Moroccan—are now the protagonists of a unique exhibition that unveils their personal experiences and previously uncharted artistic universes to the public.
