Corpo a Corpo: a Frail Balance Between the Landscape and Us is the title of the second edition of A Occhi Aperti: Drawing the Now, which each year investigates one of the themes that encompass the present through the lenses of international comics and illustrations. 

“Body” and “Landscape” are words that embody a specific fracture of modern times, a relationship that becomes a call to action for ever-pressing matters in our way of staying in and alongside the world: climate change, the need to overcome rigid standards of identity, the all-too-human necessity to feel in harmony with an environment that’s becoming more and more indifferent and hostile.

The festival’s theme also strives to be a window through which we can witness the changes that are affecting the world of illustration: in the relationship between shape and background we can find expressions that underline a conflict between the subject and the surrounding world: does the landscape exist outside of us or is our gaze that creates it? Can art imagine new relations with the space that we inhabit? 

The exploration of the relationship between bodies and environment will start with Dominique Goblet, master and pioneer in the art of experimental comics, who was invited to the festival with the purpose of showcasing her work through places and cultural institutions of Bologna, weaving illustration and other media.

Centerpiece of the project will be Costellazioni (Constellations), her first exhibit in Italy, set in the ex-church of San Mattia, whose story resonates strongly with Goblet’s powerful images. The programme set at Cinema Modernissimo will also screen several movies selected by the author, in order to portray the varied influences that set her on her path. 

As a finishing touch to complete the portrait of the author, the publisher Sigaretten will also release her first Italian book, entitled Paesaggi di carne (Flesh Landscapes), containing pictures from her carnets as well as an interview curated by Hamelin.

The discussion surrounding bodies and spaces cannot be separated from the idea of identity. Several exhibitions focusing on such a relevant topic will be displayed throughout the city, spearheaded by a plethora of artists: Jul Maroh, in collaboration with Gender Bender;  Postbellica, Martoz + Gloria Pizzilli, curated by Canicola Press and Inuit respectively;  a group of young independent artists composed of Karla Paloma, Elsa Klée, Lucile Ourvuoai and Martina Sarritzu, will be the protagonist of a collective exhibit handled by Titvil and Martina Sarritzu, with a strong focus on reinventing the genre of the feminist underground comic; a comic reading and a dialogue with Maria Nadotti; a showcase of drawings and from life paintings centering on the naked body, curated by Inuit. 

Bianca Bagnarelli, one of the most famous voices of Italian illustration overseas, will also be present with a special installation illustrating the process that brings her ideas to life. 

The universe of independent publishing is the other main focus of A occhi aperti: a bookshop held at DAS - Dispositivo Arti Sperimentali, will host a selection of the best comics and fanzines from all over the world, curated by Titvil, Just Indie Comics and Hamelin. The bookshop’s purpose is to shine a light on indie comics, and will have a program of activities aimed towards helping the larger public discover the new directions of this artistic language.