The project stems from the collaboration between several geographers at the University of Padova and the Progetto Giovani Office – Cabinet of the Mayor of the Municipality of Padova with the aim of encouraging the dialogue between scientific research, art-practice, and the citizens of Padova. At the foundation of the project lies the idea that academic knowledge should contribute to the conceptualization and realization of more meaningful and sustainable cities.
Neighborhoods, mobility and waterways are not only geographical concepts that contain some of the most significant contemporary urban phenomena and dynamics at the local and global levels; they are also the key concepts around which the artists have developed their site-specific installations to create a public art exhibition that crosses the city of Padova from north to south, along the tramline’s route.
Together with the curators at the Progetto Giovani Office, each artist collaborated with a geographer, who provided reflections on the key concept and the associated site. Engaged in this parnership, the three artists developed their own site narration: Fabio Roncato for the Arcella neighborhood, Mónica Bellido Mora for the railway station, Caterina Rossato for the Lungargine Scaricatore at Bassanello.
All three works of art spontaneously focused upon the idea of distance. Treating this concept through different nuances and from different perspectives, these works question the ways that the people live in cities, the issues of co-existence, and the meanings of change, movement and relationships in our shared urban spaces.
