In December 2023, together with Sonnenstube and under the guidance of geologist Ulla Fattorini, we visited the Breggia Gorge Park and the cement path in Morbio Inferiore. A few decades of industrial history have irreversibly transformed this strip of land. By utilizing the limestone deposits that settled at the bottom of the Tethys Sea (the ancient ocean that separated the European continent from North Africa and Asia 200 million years ago), cement was produced in Morbio that built, transformed, and devastated the valley floor of Canton Ticino. The shells of the invertebrates that populated this ancient ocean have become the building blocks of modern construction. Inspired by the human and more-than-human history of this context, we created “Coccoliti”, a performance of reading in the dark held at Sonnenstube, Lugano, in January 2024.
Date: 09.12 – 10.12.23
Residency locations: Parco delle gole della Breggia, Balerna, Arzo’s Caves, Arzo
Performance locations: Sonnenstube, Lugano
Participants: Alice Fiorelli, Giacomo Galletti, Viola Leddi, Andrea Magnani, Mattia Pajè, Riccardo Sala, Gabriel Stöckli, Stella Succi, Piermauro Tamburini, Jean Louis Tschanz-Egger, Tommaso Zerbini
Special thanks to: Giacomo Galletti, Gabriel Stöckli, Osteria Centrale Balerna, Ulla Fattorini
The group in front of the caves entrance
The guide shows a photo of Saceba
External view of Saceba
The group walks outside Saceba
The caves
The group explores the caves
Faded handprints, supposedly left by the workers
Deep into the caves there is statue of Saint Barbara, patron saint of miners.
The caves
Cutted stones pieces
Huge tubes inside the caves
Saceba engines
A stone wall resembling an eye
Holes in the wall
The group in Arzo
The exit route from the quarries
Part of the group in Arzo
Concrete handprints found in Arzo
Performance view at Sonnenstube
3:58 audio loop in a car parked in front of Sonnenstube
The group walking outside Saceba
The cave interiors