Presented at: For Capitale Italiana Della Cultura 2015, Piazza Carmina, 3.10.2015
Duration of the performance: 6 hours
Curator: Maria Paola Zedda

Maurizio Saiu (Choreographer and Dancer) had a basic Idea to make a performance with live Human Chess as well a Turnament with chess player. He askes the Performance Artist Nezaket Ekici to develop the idea together to a Performance Installation.
Vivo invisible presents a chess tournament and a live chess performance on the same day. The idea of developing an art project dedicated to the beautiful game of chess developed by accidentally discovering that a group of young immigrants from Bangladesh were particularly skillful in this game. The idea is to have a tournament with participants from all over the world and especially from Bangladesh, Africa and Europe, who will act in the center of the big Piazza del Carmine in Cagliari.
The two finalists will have the privilege of playing the final match with a living chessboard. Nezaket and Maurizio have decided to create a giant chess board (8mx8m) with different materials in white and black. Each of the 64 squares is made of different organic materials such as flour, coffee, pigments, stones, wool, soil etc.
A great mandala that will fall apart during the game to create a new borderless design. The costumes and masks, the dances, the songs and words tell glimpses of life and the cultural differences of the performers. The actions/moves were developed during the workshop held by Maurizio and Nezaket.
The huge place Piazza del Carmina in Cagliari will be devided into two places. On the one side the chess turnament will end with a final. Parallel to the final on the other side of the piazza a live chess Performance Installation with 32 people playing live chess on a giant chessboard according to the moves of the real chess final and accompanied by live music. An orchestra will emphasize the moves playing a soundtrack for the entire time of the game. It’s an event in which even the regular square-goers will contribute to the realization of the great chessboard and participate in the tournament.
As the chess board itself is made of different natural materials in black and white (as well the costumes of the chess performers will support the instable setting and show the charecteristics of the people, coming from many different nations and cultures (involved are as well refeegus from african countries, also inhabitants from italy, as well people from turkey, germany, domecian republic).
The idea is that the colours and material on the chess board float by the movement of the chess actors. In the end the chess board will show marks of movement, colours will mix and perhaps the chessboard will loose its form locally. In a more concrete sense, the international set up of actors is responsible for the borderless interference on the chess board. Normally the two chess parties stand for two different tribes, now many tribes from allover the world are involved, leading to a mix up and the loss of commen bounderies as shown by the chess fields.
Chess as a highly ordered structure will be transformed into a de-frontiering zone, eventhough this disorder is just a result of making the intercultural movement visible, that occurs during this game of chess. During the performance the actors work with the material, bring themselfes in relation with the material. They speak about the experience with the material, sing, tell stories about their childhood, make poems about the material, move according to cultural rituals or they make visible the identity of the performer by speaking about their own names and history.
Vivo invisible brings different cultures together, trespassing borders, that are given by the chess board itself, setting free memories and history as well as the flow of time.

rock, wool, volcanos, coal, flour, yeast, salt, grapes, polester frame, costumes black and white, spot lights, hifi soundboxes, musical instruments, furtinures with 10 chess games for the Turnament

6 hours

Performers: 32 for Live Chess Game
Assistent: Giulia Palomba
Project Producer: Alessandra Figus
Music: Snake Platform diretta da Daniela Ledda
Thanks to:
Caritas diocesana di Cagliari e il Circolo Scaccistico Cagliaritano
Citta Di Cagliari
Cagliari
Ministero die beni e delle attivita culturali e del turismo
Regione Autonoma della Sargedna
Fondazione Banco di Sardegna
Photo by: Alberto Maria Melis; Stephano