In der GALLERIA CONTEMPORANO in Mestre, fand sich eine Ausstellung, welche das sicher reichhaltige Angebot der Architekturbiennale in Venedig auf eigenwillige Weise zu ergänzen schien. Das Thema ist vergessenes Land und die Frage der Inbesitznahme. Eine rituelle Inbesitznahme einer unbewohnten griechischen Insel (BUILT EVENT), steht der neugierigen und auch zögerlichen eines Landstriches in der Nähe von Rom gegenüber, der schon bessere Zeiten gesehen hat und nun reichlich unklare, temporäre Nutznießer beherherbergt (HARALD GSALLER). Ein Ölfass auf Wanderschaft, welches sich durch die hartnäckige Intervention des Künstlers doch noch den prominenten Platz erobert und nun Gegensätze spiegelt (ARMANDO LULAJ), eine Landschaft die sich durch "Telefongekritzel" als Resultat einer Videoreportage, zur Landkarte mausert (VINCENZO CASALI), sind die Beiträge die ebensoviele Fragen stellen, wie Antworten geben.

Res derelicta
From abandoned to emblematic places Res derelicta is a concept that dates back to Roman law, and is still found in the civil law of numerous countries. It refers to the state of abandonrnent of goods or things which could theoretically be reappropriated by occupatio. Here it is used as a reflection on the condition of places today, particularty fringe areas which seem to show "distraction.. of ownership, a lack of public or private interest, that is the intention to abandon them (animus dereliquiendi). As such they are left adrift, like goods which were thrown overboard to lighten a sinking ship.
How should we consider goods, or aspace or place, once it is no longer marked by the interest of an owner and specific functions, once it has been "thrown overboard"? Our society is marked by a remarkable capacity to produce scrap, relics and waste and seems to have made the state of abandonment into a widespread and ubiquitous condition. Nature itself has long been thought of as res nullius, deserving little or no attention. It is only in recent years that legal and administrative steps have been taken to ensure that the countryside and the environment are not seen as belonging to no one- and thus having no value- but rather as belonging to everyone (res communis and res publica), and thus deserving care. Of course this does not prevent the fact that the use of places, and the relationship with things in general, is still commonly marked by an oscillation between intensive exploitation and lack of care.

A desert island in the Sporades archipelago, an ancient ltalian park in astate of neglect, an oil barreion the streets of New York and Rome. Corners of cities, or formative places remembered by a philosopher. These are the materials which make up the project Island_Build Event coordinated by the Greek architects and curators Aristides Antonas and Filippos Oreopoulos; the investigation by the writer and photographer Harald Gsaller (Vienna), the work of the video artist Armando Lulaj (Tirana), and the conceptual documentation of the architect Vincenzo Casali (Venice).

"RES DERELICTA" from abandoned to emblematic places", is also a chance to reflect on the condition of places and their transformation in the city of Venice, particularly on the mainland. These reflections are made concrete through public meetings involving artists, experts, public officials, representatives and associations.
                                                                                                             Riccardo Caldura

(Ausschnitt aus Pressetext)