Per un teatro abitato. Storia, fenomenologia e orizzonti delle residenze teatrali in Italia.

The aim of this study is to provide a first monographic approach to the field of theatre residencies, in order to define a comprehensive theoretical and practical profile, within a structured historical and cultural framework. Theatre residencies are in fact a relatively recent phenomenon, emerging in the first half of the twentieth century and proliferating worldwide over the last fifty years. They are multifaceted in nature, combining artistic and technical disciplines and bringing together fields of human knowledge traditionally considered incompatible. At the same time, they remain little known, and the existing scientific research is so fragmented that the semantic field of “residency” includes a wide range of highly heterogeneous creative, productive and distributive practices. In light of the scarcity of systematic bibliography on the subject, this study adopts specific research methodologies to investigate the origins, development, and consolidation of theatre residencies in Europe and in Italy. The first chapter provides a comprehensive definition of the artistic residency in a broad sense, through a historical overview of creative mobility initiatives which, from the sixteenth to the twentieth century, constitute the artistic and managerial genesis of the phenomenon. It then outlines the economic and geographical trends of the sector over the last twenty years through the analysis of statistical data drawn from major European studies on creative mobility, such as Mobility Matters. Programmes and Schemes to Support the Mobility of Artists and Cultural Professionals (2008), produced by the European Institute for Comparative Cultural Research; Artists Moving & Learning Project. European Report (2011), carried out by the CNRS in collaboration with the University of Deusto; and I-Portunus. Operational Study. Mobility Schemes for Artists and Culture Professionals in Creative Europe Countries (2019), developed by the On the Move platform. The second chapter follows the same methodological approach in order to identify the specific cultural and social characteristics of theatre residencies, with particular reference to the European studies Research Results of Perform Europe (2022), conducted by the IDEA Consult team, and The Situation of Theatres in the EU Member States. Final Report (2022), prepared by PPMI in collaboration with KEA European Affairs. It then examines the genesis of the phenomenon in Italy, analysing its political and legislative development from the 1980s onwards through archival research in national and regional regulatory databases. The third chapter addresses the evolution of Italian theatre residencies following the Ministerial Decree of 1 July 2014, through the analysis of the monitoring reports prepared by Fondazione Fitzcarraldo for the three-year periods 2015–2017 and 2018–2020. The discussion is finally complemented by artistic and managerial considerations drawn from field research conducted in May and October 2023 at the Lazio Region Residency Centre “Periferie Artistiche.”