Studio Orta

'Ohel: Site of Gathering' emerges from a process of participatory research in collaboration with residents of the Valtiberina, CasermArcheologica and curator Simonetta Carbonaro as part of the project Community Threads (Trame di Comunità). The project examines how experiences of belonging may be articulated through shared material and symbolic forms. Structured around the question, “What threads bind you to this place, and which pull you away?”, the project invited participants to express their responses through narrative and through mineral, vegetal, and animal associations, forming a collective framework for the installation.

Lucy Orta's response comprises five tent-like structures derived from the archetype of the Ohel, understood as a space of gathering, protection, and encounter. Within each structure, handwoven linen hangings bear embroidered portraits of community participants. Unfinished threads knotted with gold beads, and suspended terracotta amulets function as material signifiers of voice, memory, and attachment.

Material processes are integral to the work’s conceptual framework. Linen and hemp reference local weaving traditions embedded in labour and land-based economies, while hand-formed terracotta amulets evoke a direct, haptic relationship to place. The suspended elements generate lines of tension that recall the whorls of a loom, articulating the rootedness to the territory.

Configured as an environment to be entered rather than observed, the installation situates the viewer within a space of exchange. By inviting responses to the same guiding question, the work extends beyond representation into an open, evolving structure of collective reflection.