Magfest Torino

I am in Torino for Magfest! When I left Munich on Thursday morning, the first winter snow was falling - but in Torino it was a beautiful sunny day. I was met at the airport by Valentina and Christina Kyriazidi, who had just arrived from Berlin, then we had lunch with Gabriella and her parents. Gabriella and Valentina have put the festival together on almost nothing (in New Zealand we'd say "on the smell of an oily rag") and focussed on performances - 17 performances over two days and one evening - mostly by "younger" women. The festival theme, "gener-azioni", invites us to consider inter-generational relationships, as well as the generation of action, and other permutations of words and thoughts arising from "gener-azioni".

The theme is appropriate: last year's Magfest was the first Magdalena festival held without any of the originators of the network present, a significant moment in the evolution of the network. It's indicative not only of the continuing need for such a network, but also of the presence within the network of capable and determined young women who have the desire and motivation to generate Magdalena actions.

Little white paper tents have sprung up all around the theatre, and we are invited to rent the tents, in return for contributions to the decorations of the tents. Between performances, an installation with masks, paper puppets and candles happens quietly in a curtained space at the end of the theatre. In the morning there is a workshop with Cristina Castrillo and then there are solo performances - with white dresses and red shoes and barbie dolls and suitcases and mostly they are in Italian which means I am focussed on the images, the sounds, the movements ... at the same time I'm also preparing for make-shift tomorrow - going to the apartment where I will be with a small audience, checking all of the tech with Paula in the UK and with another festival, Tracing Mobility in Berlin, that will also simultaneously screen the performance. Everything seems to be ready so tonight I will have a good sleep, and see you tomorrow online ...