Opening: Saturday, June 28, 2025, at 8:00 pm, Collegiata di Santa Maria dell'Itria, Piazza Matteotti, Simeri Crichi (CZ)
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Discover the map here
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Click here to download the invitation and press kit.
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CEASELESS CARE originates from Anna Ill’s research in Simeri and Catanzaro, where the artist encountered a headless statuette from the 4th century BCE, identified as a Kourotrophos—a female figure symbolizing care and the protection of childhood. From this fragmented presence emerges a reflection on the relationship between care, the body, and absence.
Inspired by Sara Ruddick, the artist sees motherhood as an act of care beyond biological ties or gender. The work features three steel elements: an arch recalling Simeri’s retaining walls with many arches; the tilted silhouette of the Kourotrophos, evoking interdependence; and a pattern inspired by Opuntia ficus-indica, a symbol of repetition, healing and regeneration, extending from the figure’s arm to the ground.
With CEASELESS CARE, Anna Ill weaves together history, architecture, symbolism, and the body in a reflection on care as a collective responsibility, through welcoming spaces and regenerative gestures capable of supporting individuals and communities.
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Artwork:
01. Anna Ill, CEASELESS CARE, 2025, corten steel, 230 × 168 × 142 cm
Walkway adjacent to Piazza Matteotti, Simeri Crichi (CZ)
Simeri Crichi (CZ)
28.06.2025
Collegiata di Santa Maria dell'Itria Piazza Matteotti
18:00
THE ARM THAT ONCE HELD YOU LIKE AN ANCIENT ARCH NOW BEARS THE WEIGHT OF TIME AND LIFE. AROUND YOU, NATURE WHISPERS, CRADLING YOU IN BREATH AND BLOOM, NURTURING YOUR SILENCE WITH CEASELESS CARE.
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Anna Ill (Barcelona, Spain, 1990) is a visual artist who lives and works in London. She holds an MA in Art and Space from Kingston University, London (2017), a BA in Textile Art from Escola Massana, Barcelona (2014), and a degree in Decoration from École Boulle, Paris (2015). She is the co-founder of Calcio, an artist-run space based in London since 2023. Recently, her work won the Acquisition Prize at the Contextile Contemporary Textile Art Biennial, Porto (PT, 2024). She was also selected for the Textile Arts Center, New York (USA, 2024), and for the Sculpture Prize at the Antoni Vila Casas Foundation, Barcelona (ES, 2024). Her solo exhibition A(r)mour at L&B Gallery, Barcelona (ES, 2023), was awarded the Wittmore Prize. She participated in Festival Embarrat at LoPardal, Lleida (ES, 2024), and received a special mention at the Ezequiel Biennial (ES, 2023). Between 2022 and 2023, she took part in the travelling project organized by AllArtNow, exhibiting at Wonzimer, Los Angeles (USA); Laterna Magica Museum, Copenhagen (DK); Magmart International Videoart Festival, Naples (IT); Video Formes Festival, Clermont-Ferrand (FR); and the International Video Art Festival, Casablanca (MA). In 2021, she received the second prize at the Sculpture Prize FVC (ES), participated in the residency In-Ruins in Calabria (IT), and was selected for Ten Little Indians, Rome (IT).
The municipality of Simeri Crichi extends over 47 km², from the foothills of the Presila to the Ionian coast, and is divided into three areas: Crichi, the administrative center founded in the 18th century; Simeri, a medieval village with archaeological finds from the Iron Age and the Magna Graecia period; and Simeri Mare, a coastal area popular with tourists. Inhabited since the Neolithic era, it was a Byzantine fief and hosted a Capuchin convent and a bishop’s seat, now corresponding to the Collegiate Church. It is the birthplace of Bartolomeo di Simeri, a Greek-Calabrian monk and founder of the Pathirion monastery in Rossano. Today, the municipality includes an industrial area with a biomass power plant, a historic town band, and an active AVIS blood donation center. Rich in artists, it preserves strong religious traditions, including the Feast of St. Nicholas in May, followed by celebrations for St. Sebastian and the Madonna Addolorata “della Cona,” the most heartfelt by the community.
Ehab Halabi Abo Kher is an Israeli visual artist based in Italy. A finalist of the National Arts Prize in 2008, he has taken part in numerous events and festivals, including the 54th Venice Biennale, Corpo Elettronico, Videoart Yearbook, The Scientist Festival, and Altrove Street Art Festival.
He created the trailer for the Festival La Grande Musica per il Cinema on the occasion of the 67th Venice International Film Festival, and presented a performance at the Rome Film Festival in 2022.
His practice revolves around found footage and performance, exploring the mechanisms of communication through pre-existing materials. For Una Boccata d’Arte in Calabria, he curated the projects by Mohsen Baghernejad Moghanjoogh in Santa Severina (2023), and by Lulù Nuti in Motta Filocastro (2024).