If the Abbey is the most iconic image of Chiaravalle Associazione Terzo Paesaggio is the cultural beating hearth of the town.

Andrea and Marta are creating art, rituals and activation of the town since 2013 and they invited me to host a urban games workshop with the community, they knew my work and Urban Games Factory and they wanted to collaborate creating something together.

The process was a real exchange of mutual learning, I hosted the workshop and dozen of creators from the area attended, ideas where proposed and a theme started emerging at the end of the session. What if the landscape around Chiaravalle was to be magic for just one night, a land in the middle between the reality and the other world?

Lately I’ve been obsessed with WildMen of Europe, a project by photographer Charles Fregers, traditional protocarnival masks from all over Europe.

Strange creatures were to inhabitant the landscape of Chiaravalle during the solstice evening, representation of the different element of nature, that was so key for the development of the area, and that the abbots worked so tireless, but also wild man, dark creatures, speaking strange tongues, howling at the full moon.

The “Landa” was giving us so many suggestions that we had to stop at some point and start working for the production, we had 7 weeks before solstice night, and everything has to be ready.

We collaborated with super talented artist and theater makers, Odemà, Teatro Alkaest, Quattrox4, Circolo Bergman, the production was indeed very big but luckily we were able to secure a grant also from Non Riservato and involve amazing photographers and game designers.

The solstice arrived and the player were ready to enter the Landa

More then 200 attended and got (figuratively) lost in the landscape surrounding the abbey, divided in team of 6 to 8 “wayfarer” they had to find piece of light and save the day from the advance of the bearers of the night.

After almost two hours of exploration all the Wayfarer has to reach the big lawn on the side of the medieval abbey where a ritual was performed and the night and the day could rejoin their perpetual balance.

The ending was even more epic then that, the Chiaravalle Abbot elated from the experience, decided to host a celebratory party in the tavern of the Abbey, the joyous ending for an amazing summer evening.