Culture Now: Marinella Senatore

Italian artist Marinella Senatore discusses her multidisciplinary practice with curator Kathy Noble, during the development of a new project with MOT International (October – November 2014).

Disrupting the traditional roles of artist as author and public as audience, Senatore’s works often involve mass public participation, harnessing the creative powers of a crowd to initiate dialogues between histories, cultures and social structures. Typical of her broader practice, Senatore’s 2012 film Rosas, an opera for the screen, involved the participation of over 20,000 citizens in Germany, Spain and UK. In 2013, Senatore founded The School of Narrative Dance, a nomadic, free-of-charge school that focuses on processes of storytelling to propose an alternative system of education. To date, the School has involved the participation of thousands of people in seven different countries.

Marinella Senatore (b.1977, Cava dei Tirreni) lives and works in London and Berlin. She is a PhD Candidate, University of Castilla-La Mancha (2014), holds degrees from Faculty of Fine Arts, University of Castilla-La Mancha (2006), National Film School, Rome (2001), Fine Art School, Naples (1998) and a Master Degree in Violin, Conservatory of Music, Avellino (1997). Selected solo exhibitions include Public Secrets, Kunst Halle Sankt Gallen, St Gallen; Marinella Senatore, Building Communities, Museum of Contemporary Art, Santa Barbara; The School Of Narrative Dance, Roma, Premio MAXXI, MAXXI National Museum of XXI Century Arts, Rome (all 2014); Marinella Senatore, Costruire comunità/Building Communities, Castello di Rivoli, Turin; Gotham Prize, Italian Institute, New York (all 2013); Rosas, Part One-Part Two, Peres Projects, Berlin; The Attic, Quad, Derby; Abierto por obras: Rosas, Matadero, Madrid; and Perfect Lives, Kunstlerhaus Bethanien, Berlin (all 2012).

Kathy Noble is an independent writer and curator based in London. Most recently, she worked as Curator, Artists and Programmes at Wysing Arts Centre. Prior to this she was Head of Exhibitions at Nottingham Contemporary and from 2007 - 2012 she worked at Tate Modern as a Curator, where she organised numerous projects, exhibitions and events, including co-curating The Tanks opening programme and the performance programme Tate Modern Live. She writes widely for magazines such as Artforum, Frieze and Art Review and has published numerous essays on art and artists in catalogues and books. Kathy is a Trustee of Michael Clark Company and was previously Chair of Trustees for the artist-run space Auto Italia South East.