REWIND Italia: artists' video in Italy in the 70s and 80s. [Film screenings and presentation]

This output consisted of two 90-minute film screenings, accompanied by a presentation. The presentation provided an introduction to the REWINDItalia project, offering an overview of its aims, objectives and outcomes. The first screening programme included a selection of early video works produced in Italy in the 1970s. It opened with Fabio Mauri’s seminal TV happening, "Il televisore che piange", from 1971. The programme continued with a selection of works by Sambin, Ambrosini, Sartorelli and Borsari, produced by Galleria del Cavallino (Venice). This was one of the most significant and renowned early Italian video art production centres, led by Paolo and Gabriella Cardazzo. Some of the works produced by Cavallino were by Yugoslavian artists such as Sanja Ivekovič and Živa Kraus, as part of the Third and Fourth Encounters. These were organised respectively in 1974 and 1976 by the city of Motovun, now in Croatia. The programme also included a seminal video performance by Rome-based media artist Luca Maria Patella, who experimented independently with videotape during the 1970s. In 2011 REWINDItalia recovered some of Patella’s videotapes, long-since believed to be lost. The second screening programme opened with four videos by Sillani and Viola, produced by Cavallino in the late 1970s. The following three works were by Marangoni and Plessi. These were produced by Centro Videoarte of Palazzo dei Diamanti in Ferrara. Directed by Lola Bonora, this was the only public Italian video centre active in 1970s and 1980s, and was also one of the most renowned and long-lived such centres. The second programme also included the only video work made by the renowned filmmaker Paolo Gioli during the 1980s. This was followed by two works by Sasso - painter, video artist and TV creative director. These works feature seminal collaborations between artists and mainstream television. The programme closed with a glimpse into the early 1990s and the development of digital video. This output was delivered as part of the 2014 VIDEOEX International Experimental Film and Video Festival