A Social and Community Theatre at OTAF Foundation
June 2016 – December 2017
On the occasion of the centenary of OTAF Foundation (Opera Ticinese di Assistenza alla Fanciullezza), the management of the foundation have developed an artistic and educational project that celebrates and renew the experience of community and aid to disabled people, initiatied by Cora Carloni at the beginning of the XX century.
Albergo della Luce is the name of the project, conceived and developed by the Social Community Centre at University of Turin, by making use of the methodology of the Social and Community Theatre, acknowledged as best practice by the European Union.
The project involves guests, families and employees at OTAF in a creative path. It aims at attracting interest in citizens and local cultural and social institutions about the disability topic. It aims at building links and common initiatives.
The project made up of interconnected artistic and educational actions and will produce:
- A community evening – The Party of Light (December 6th 2016)
- An educational programme for employees (autumn 2016 – autumn 2017)
- A huge performance taking place at OTAF Foundation (June 3-4 2017)
- A show that will be able to be replicated in several local contexts (winter 2017)
- A video-documentary (winter 2017)
The name Albergo della Luce originates its name from the first building of the OTAF Foundation. Light and beauty are the main topics the project aims to communicate and show through art. The reception and coexistence with disabilities and diseases, the support to families and employees, the sensibilization of the public opinion to inclusion are the values that Albergo della Luce supports and develops.
Narration, music, photography, ballet, scenic design are the artistic expressions through which the artists of the SCT Centre, together with the operators and guests, will build an intense community theatre experience – under the direction of Alessandra Rossi Ghiglione – with a strong focus on narration and change for the people involved and for the spectators.
On December 6th the OTAF Foundation hosted the first event of the project, the Party of Light. An event made up of collective rites and theatre based on the common path started in June together with the Alessandra Rossi Ghiglione and the équipe of the SCT Centre based on the topic of home. Home is a symbol of reception and growth of the OTAF foundation, that will soon inaugurate a new building: Casa Nava.
OTAF is a set of buildings, as been celebrated by the rap song created by a group of operators called the snsible antennae. The Christmas tree has been turned into a special Tree of Light created by the OTAF carpentry and decorated with little light houses. Light and home have been as well the topics of the final concert of the Ninfea Blues Band.