Moving Landscape #2

This was a short artist film by Creamer, The Passing of the Keepers of Salento: a memorial to obsolescence, made as part of the Moving Landscape project curated by Italian organizations Progetto GAP and Pepe Nero in southern Italy. The project also resulted in the book of the same name, published by Progetto GAP (2015).

Through a series of residencies and workshops the Moving Landscape project brought together artists and writers from Italy, USA, Spain, Taiwan and the UK in order to explore dramaturgies of landscape. Focussing on exploring landscape in terms of theories of dramatic structure Creamer’s films aimed to heighten inter-relationships between human and geographic landscape within the wider social and political contexts of Salento.

Creamer carried out a series of audio interviews with the Train Keepers developing a speech, a collective declaration as their role fell into obsolescence in Italy in 2018. This was directed at the passing trains and passengers, a futile, absurd gesture but also a provocative poetic form of direct address to the Italian public; intended as a temporary monument it acknowledged the dignity, intensity and complexity of the Train Keepers response to their situation. Final filming took place on Friday November 28th, 2014 in train stations in Puglia, with the declaration read over a public address system, the event documented to make the short film. An additional work, Dear Anne-Marie…The Last Keeper, (December 2014), invited the last working Train Keeper of Salento to write a letter to Creamer describing her final hours in her role. This was adapted to make a short film.

The ‘Moving Landscape’ project featured Italian writers The Wu Ming 3, including; Wu Ming/ Luca di Meo, Antonio Potenza, Boris Tremolizzo, Ginestra Odevane, Giorgio Ruggeri, Maira Marzioni, Maria Assunta Russo, Marco Santoro Verri. Visual artists also included Santiago Morilla, TJ Hospodar, Enoch Chen, as well as Anne-Marie Creamer.

The project was funded by Fondazione con il Sud; European Commission; The Museo Ferroviario di Lecce; Laboratorio Urbano Aperto; La Rete dei Caselli Sud Est and Manifatture Knos.

Exhibitions of the work took place at Il Museo Ferroviario della Puglia, Lecce, Italy, curated by Francesca Marconi/ Progetto GAP; and Associazione Italiana di Architettura e Critica, Roma.

The project was widely reviewed in the press with reviews in La Repubblica, Corrierre Salentino, Brindisi Sette, News and Artribune.

Later on, both films were also exhibited at The Tetley Gallery/ Leeds International Film Festival (LIFF) and the Cinema spec Studio74 film series, Exeter Phoenix Galley, Exeter, UK.

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