Ricci / Forte

“The world is in colour, but reality is in black and white.”
Wim Wenders

In the beginning everything was black and white; the contrast between good and evil, in that eternal process of improvement that one might wish for every human being. The opposites mixed, the textures to be woven together between darkness and light.

Only by overcoming this conflict can the individual advance towards a general progress. Middle Ages or future, the archangel Michael against Satan, we are ruled by dichotomy. To transcend and dominate, to develop spirituality by governing material tendencies, is the only path forward.

NIGER et ALBUS, in Latin to speak of a dead language that has lost its vital energy, describes opposites, the power of a rift to stitch together a new specificity far beyond the outworn and anachronistic binary confines. To take a step forward on the path to self-realisation, NIGER et ALBUS represents the strength to accept what exists outside and inside us, building the foundations of pride and respect for the differences that distinguish us to achieve serenity and a solar disengagement from the fierce steps of a planet that expresses itself solely by begging for the self-satisfied gaze of the other.

One’s personal identity cannot be bestowed by third parties, pursuing a transitory majority siren song; it cannot be transformed into a mask behind which to get lost in pursuit of a status that smothers the desperation of not knowing who we truly are; NIGER et ALBUS is – from an artistic and moral point of view – about having the courage to raise one’s head high and to spend one’s remaining days in an existence that will inevitably come to an end, pursuing a personal state of exciting fullness and progress.

NIGER et ALBUS is the labyrinth, the inextricable path that accompanies us throughout the time we have left. The ability to detect a path on instinct without relying on common sense, to avoid ending up at the very same point we started from. Tired, deaf, satiated with bad food, without knowing why and what we were looking for.

NIGER et ALBUS is the effort of the rift, the revolution, the bomb-throwing righteousness against the compliant cultural desert. Black, white, precise instructions, no hesitation, no second thoughts.

NIGER et ALBUS, daedalus as purification, is the expressive compass we use to reclaim the rise of a fiery, never tepid, world; a contrast, a duality that creates upheaval by toppling false idols.

If we are unable to imagine a better and more harmonious world, we will never have the means necessary to rebuild it. NIGER et ALBUS thus becomes, in this 52^nd edition of the Festival, the promise of a new light breaking through: rich in magnetic performances and plays, it will continue to be a part of us all, interacting with our essences, our curiosity, our aspirations, contradictions, our vulnerabilities, to leave us in awe as it speaks of the metamorphosis of a world in perpetual motion.

With inventive energy, and the many perspectives of its highly diverse proposals, the Festival will offer an unparalleled adventure, and for the spectators will remain a space of desire, of wonder, a crossroads for discussion and debate, resolutely radiating the vitality of the city of Venice, and more.  

The NIGER et ALBUS edition will not appear as dichotomic thought but will illustrate the indecipherable chaos of courage, volativity defended to the bitter end, a rigorous deck of Tarot cards with which to predict a possible future: the Magician, Back to Back Theatre, will leave the first hand to its companions to later close the edition; the Empress Gob Squad will launch the inauguration and establish the first divinations; followed by the Fool Ciro Gallorano; the Horse Tim Crouch; the World Muta Imago; the Hermit Miet Warlop; the Wheel of Fortune Elia Pangaro; Temperance Luanda Casella; the High Priestess Giorgina Pi/Stefano Fortin; the Sun Fabrizio Arcuri/Carolina Balucani; the Hanged Man Milo Rau; Death Vaiva Grainyté/Lina Lapelyté/Rugilè Barzdžiukaitė; the Lovers Eliana Rotella / Fabio Condemi; the Chariot Markus Öhrn; the Devil Rosalinda Conti / Martina Badiluzzi; Justice Amir Reza Koohestani; all striving to weave a divinatory warp and weft, a mosaic to interpret our Tomorrow.

A passe-partout Festival to throw the doors of the Imagination wide open and to embark on this multidisciplinary two-week journey (from 15 to 30 June 2024) in the theatres, the venues and the site-specific spaces of La Biennale, through the experience of great ethical-political audacity and breathtaking aesthetics, exploring unknown worlds, sharing utopian dreams and deep emotions.

With their creations, their exploratory research and a corrosive outlook on the current times, a line-up of extraordinary poetic visionary artists will mobilise to awaken consciences and delineate the boundaries of a more desirable future, rip open unexplored universes to jolt our horizon of routine expectation, awing us with unforgettable performances, offering us a round-trip ticket to a transversal elsewhere.