September 03, 2011
Ecriture Infinie / Infinite Writing with Moleskine at Festivaletteratura in Mantua
A time capsule for eight giant-sized handwritten books. An art  project by Bili Bidjocka, curated by Simon Njami,  celebrating the rite of passage between handwriting as we  know it and the handwriting of the future. Presented by Moleskine from 7th to 11th September 2011 at Festivaletteratura, Mantua, in collaboration with lettera27. Is handwriting still alive, this is the title of a presentation event with the curator, the artist and Maria  Sebregondi, Moleskine, on Saturday 10 at 7:14 pm.

The public is invited to take part during the festival and leave its mark creating together an art installation. The ex-church of Santa Maria della Vittoria, Via Domenico Fernelli 15 in Mantua, hosts this artistic work in progress. This location has already been the venue of a workshop dedicated to African art, with Bili Bidjocka and Simon Njami, organized by lettera27 during 2007 edition.

The collaboration with two authors that proceeds with  Ecriture Infinie / Infinite Writing, celebration of a 3500 year old invention:  handwriting, now undergoing  a momentous change, largely substituted by digital writing, and thus possibly morphing more into a source of leisure and  research than a daily necessity, reaffirming its magical, artistic and sacred origins. It is an art project by Bili Bidjocka: eight giant-sized books made of blank, silent pages. Occasionally one of the books makes its appearance around the world. A large writing desk, a lamp, a pen. One by one, people may approach the pages and leave  their mark. They are invited to write as if it were the last time they could write by  hand (watch the video).

The focus is not so much on the words, but on the gesture - the flow of the pen on  paper. When each book is completed, it is sealed, wrapped, and hidden in a secret place, as in a time capsule. Will the people who will find the books in thousands of years be able to decipher?

The initiative extends into the digital realm. On the dedicated website the public can track the movements of the Eighth Book in the Ecriture Infinie collection, a giant-sized  classic notebook contributed by Moleskine. They can also experiment with hybrid, analog-digitial writing, sharing online images or videos on the gallery, testifying to the way they write by hand, and to why they do so. You can take part in the project leaving your mark here.

Ecriture Infinie was presented for the first time in 2006 at the Mori Art Museum of Tokyo. Other volumes were presented at the Museet in Stockholm, and at the 2007 Venice Biennial, as part of Check List - Luanda Pop. The Eighth Book, a new segment in  this story, grew out of the meeting between the artist and Moleskine, a publisher of books yet to be written, in cooperation with lettera27.

After its first public appearance and debut at Festivaletteratura, the installation will be presented in the former church of Santa Maria della Vittoria. This is the first step into a journey that will bring the book around the world.