FONDO | Wissal Houbabi

FONDO – New network for emerging creativity
Project coordinated by Santarcangelo dei Teatri and realized in collaboration with AMAT Associazione Marchigiana Attività Teatrali; Centrale Fies; Emilia Romagna Teatro ERT / Teatro Nazionale; Fondazione Fabbrica Europea per le arti contemporanee; Fondazione I Teatri – Reggio Emilia; Fuorimargine / Centro di produzione della danza in Sardegna; L’arboreto – Teatro Dimora di Mondaino | Emilia-Romagna Residency Center; Lavanderia a Vapore / Fondazione Piemonte dal Vivo; OperaEstate Festival Veneto / Center for Contemporary Performing Arts; Ravenna Teatro; SCARTI Center for Innovative Theater Production in Liguria; Teatro Stabile dell’Umbria; Triennale Milano Teatro

Since 2024, Lavanderia a Vapore has been part of FONDO, a project launched by Santarcangelo dei Teatri in collaboration with a network dedicated to the development of emerging artists, with the aim of supporting the research phases of performance projects that, by their very nature, require long creation times. The 14 institutions and structures that make up FONDO respond to distinct objectives within the theater and performance system, thus addressing different work needs with respect to artistic production, from development to circulation. The one-year program provides €20,000 (per group) in financial support for the research and production of a creative project, as well as the participation of artists and companies in at least 50 days of residency hosted by partners and four masterclasses or workshops led by international authors.

Wissal Houbabi is a performance poet, artist, writer, creator and artistic director of “Spore, hip hop head”. She questions the relationship between languages and dialects, between sound, stigma and meaning. Over time, she has distinguished herself for her creativity, vocal and political radicalism, and her ability and care in communicating with people. Her research has a declared political perspective, associating the search for beauty with dignity and understanding poetic practice as a radical search for the self. Her projects investigate the epistemology of the diaspora and she has worked specifically on oral heritage in relation to colonial history, the voice of the body, muscle memory, dreams in the diaspora, and the right to love and be loved. She collaborates with cultural and artistic institutions, bringing practices that truly challenge structurally oppressive patterns. She has worked with cultural institutions including the University of Bologna, the Goethe-Institut, and the Museum of Civilisation, and collaborates with various universities and organisations across Europe, including the Ville de Besançon. Her latest works include La Madelaine de Proust – La Vache qui Rit, published in Visible: Art as Policies for Care. Socially Engaged Art (2010–Ongoing); Una gran puzza di merda nell’aria, a monologue presented at more than 40 events, including Hangar Pirelli 2022, phonomuseum_rome at the Museum of Civilisation; Offesissima at Ar/ge Kunst Bolzano and much more.