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Francisco Nassimbeni
Residency 22 November–20 December 2022
Photograph from ‘Play-Play,’ Francesco Nassimbeni's residency in the A4 Reading Room. Participants in a darkened room play at keeping balloons airborne with handheld torches.
Event: Workshop 1 | Dance of the Balloons, Francesco Nassimbeni’s residency, November 24, 2022. Image courtesy of A4 Arts Foundation.
Title Francisco Nassimbeni Dates 22 November–20 December 2022 Location Reading Room Tagline Francisco Nassimbeni titles his residency in A4’s Reading Room, Play-Play. Credits

Producer:
Vicky Lekone

Collaborators:
Heath Nash

For the duration of Play-Play, Frankie is making, doing and playing – inviting friends and collaborators to make, do and play, too. On Frankie’s first day in the Reading Room – the location of his residency/studio – a poster appeared: “Your email did not find me well.” An axiom for the digital age or a thumb bitten at impersonal modes of communication? Frankie is making a film during his residency and hosting open studio events on Thursday evenings, 6–9pm, where everyone is invited to play. Possibilities include balloon and torch dancing, paper lantern painting, exquisite corpse drawing among strangers and constructing wearables. Frankie also hosts Lalela’s Silikamva High School learners as well as Lalela’s alumni on consecutive Fridays, constructing cityscapes from boxes and board. The Reading Room’s walls accumulate words and matter:

“Never, ever, ever Land,”

“Life: hot or not?”

“I reach out and, to my dismay, your hands feel like clammy popsicles.”

Process: Francesco Nassimbeni’s residency, December 5, 2022. Image courtesy of the artist.
Process: Francesco Nassimbeni’s residency, December 9, 2022. Image courtesy of the artist.
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