Lara Dâmaso
O fluxo che unisce não se attraversa
a cura di Gabriele Tosi with Threes Productions
Lara Dâmaso, Exercise in Facelessness (Public), 2025. Performance (15 min), headset microphone, two 1800-watt lights, white photographic backdrop, two reflectors on stands, stereo speakers. Courtesy of the artist. Ph Paola Lesslhumer
"As the flooding river splits the bridge intended to cross its stream, shall we let this flux be the bond that allows the binarity of its banks."
On November 2, 2023, a flood of the Senio destroyed one of Palazzuolo’s bridges. Lara Dâmaso’s project begins from that rupture and reflects on the desire to stay connected. The works draw on a historical quality of the place, shaped by the passage of different cultures and the coexistence of multiple identities. Two ceramic sculptures are placed on opposite banks of the river, in sheltered locations that invite bodily proximity. Their forms echo the layout of the village streets, turning paths into sound channels. The sculptures function as two parts of a single composition, split by the river flowing between them. The composition weaves together the artist’s voice and sounds gathered locally. Made in Portugal, the works introduce another ceramic presence into a place marked by exchanges between Tuscany and Romagna. Near the collapsed bridge, a sign holds the project’s poetic core, suspended between the flood and the news of its reconstruction.
Thanks to: Mayor Marco Bottino, Councillor Claudio Tozzola, the citizens Matteo Donigaglia e Alfredo Menghetti, Ebrahim El Moly for ceramics, Francesco Toninelli and NUB Project for sound, Toast Project.
Lara Dâmaso’s (Biel/Bienne, Switzerland, 1996) work spans ephemeral and permanent forms, using performance, sound, video, sewing, sculpture, photography, and text. Her practice focuses on the sensitive, vibratory dialogue between humans and the spaces they inhabit. She explores the interconnectedness of the tangible and the intangible, investigating the relationship between the movement of the voice and that of the bodies in order to establish a direct, emotional mode of communication. Listening—as a state of total presence—is essential to activating this dialogue. Transformation, multiplicity of the self, dissonance, fluidity, and interdependence are central to her creative process. She holds a Bachelor of Fine Arts from the Zurich University of the Arts.
Gabriele Tosi (1987) is a curator and project manager. He co-directs Toast Project in Florence and Megadue in Bologna. He curates artist residency programs for Fondazione Musei Senesi and Alchemilla, Bologna, and teaches at the Istituto Marangoni in Florence. For Una Boccata d’Arte, he curated the projects by Theodoulos Polyviou in Fosdinovo (2023), Villiam Miklos Andersen in Serre di Rapolano (2024), and Stella Rochetich in Pratovecchio Stia (2025).
Threes Productions is a creative agency committed to cultural sustainability, developing and promoting experimental projects in the fields of music and art. Through a methodology grounded in research and innovation, Threes Productions has established itself as a multidisciplinary and collaborative platform, ranging from the design and organization of events to the development of editorial and musical content.
Palazzuolo sul Senio is a medieval village in the upper Mugello area, in the province of Florence, overlooking the Romagna side of the Apennines. A borderland, it preserves an identity shaped over centuries through exchanges, passages, and cultural cross-pollination that still define the character of what is known as “Romagna Toscana.” The Senio River runs through the village like a natural line, connecting layers of history with contemporary perspectives. From the 14th-century frescoed Municipal Library in Piazza Strigelli to E50035 – aspettati l’inaspettato, a contemporary art gallery created from a former newsstand and now a symbol of urban regeneration, the village weaves together memory and shared planning. Palazzo dei Capitani also houses the Archaeological Museum of Alto Mugello and the Museum of Mountain People, guardians of a valuable material and intangible heritage.