Rossella Poidomani in residence at Vanessa Cardui Curated by Maria Rosa Sossai
In August, Vanessa Cardui hosts a residency by Rossella Poidomani, an artist whose practice is rooted in the observation of natural processes and in the relationships between body, matter, and collectivity.
The residency concludes on Saturday, August 8 at 6:30 pm, with the presentation of the work developed on site and a shared reading of her book ASSAMU, a central focus of her recent research.
ASSAMU: a gesture of departure and transformation
The term assamu refers to a specific phenomenon in bee behavior: not a simple swarming, but a true collective relocation. A deliberate movement of the entire swarm that leaves the hive not to escape, but to choose a better place, one capable of providing water, nourishment, and the conditions necessary to settle.
Last summer, this event was observed near the gebbia on the estate. From this moment stems a reflection that runs through the artist’s work: assamu as a gesture of orientation, transition, and the search for more favorable conditions for life.
Lines of inquiry
In Poidomani’s project, assamu becomes a conceptual lens articulated through several core themes:
- Source and dwelling
Water, nectar, shelter: the need to move arises from scarcity and leads toward a place where one can remain and build. The presence of a water source becomes a primary condition for settlement. - Body and matter
Beeswax, produced within the body, suggests a parallel with the human body: building is not merely an architectural act, but a physical process. Bees do not inhabit a house — they are their own house. - Community and power
The hive functions as a unified organism oriented toward the common good. A complex form of organization, a difficult-to-define democracy in which no element is expendable. - Memory and transmission
Every hive carries a history. Its character develops over time through memory and learning, much like knowledge passed between generations. The idea of inheritance is tied to place and to what exists even before it is inhabited.
Between nature and collectivity
At the core of Rossella Poidomani’s research is the observation of bees as a model of collective organization. The parallel between swarm and human communities opens broader reflections: the survival of the hive, for bees, and the tension toward a shared good — spiritual, social, or ideological — for human beings.
Rossella Poidomani
Rossella Poidomani (Comiso, 1997) studied painting at the Academy of Fine Arts in Palermo and is among the founders of the independent space Parentesi Tonde in Palermo.
Her research develops within the context of southeastern Sicily, a territory where greenery, humidity, and limestone coexist. Here, she has closely examined the relationship between nature and human intervention, observing how matter transforms over time.
Her hands-on study of beekeeping, tied to family tradition, has guided her work toward a reflection on the body as a transforming entity and on the dynamics between individual and collective. Beeswax, understood as a material suspended between the organic and the structural, becomes a central element in her practice.
Recent projects include participation in Die Grosse at Kunstpalast in Düsseldorf, the Festival International d’art contemporain Sète–Palermo with an exhibition at CRAC in Sète, and the Nouveau Grand Tour residency program promoted by the French Ministry of Culture.
