SciArt, the IBSA Foundation project born to promote cross-pollination between scientific and artistic disciplines, invites the public to personally experience something between theater and identity: each spectator will wear a unique mask, in a 35-minute journey, with several sessions available per day.
On Sunday 14 February at 11 am, the LAC Hall will host a conversation between Romeo Castellucci and Piersandra Di Matteo a performance theorist who supports his work as a dramaturg. The event offers a rare opportunity to delve into the heart of Castellucci's artistic research and gain first-hand insight into his creative process.
The talk complements the personal exhibition that the LAC is dedicating to Castellucci, bridging two major events. It takes place just days after the close of Credere alle Maschere, the intense performance presented at MASI Lugano from 29 to 31 January 2027, and gives a preview of the repetitions of his latest work "Faust. Fatto, non detto", which will be staged in the Sala Teatro on 22 and 23 February.
During the conversation, will be explored the central themes underpinning Castellucci's theatrical vision. At its core will be the delicate relationship between image and word, with particular attention to how this bond is being transformed by the new possibilities that technology offers. The discussion will also touch on other compelling aspects of his theatre: the role of the body within the stage space, the ongoing dialogue between tradition and bold experimentation, and the connections between art, science and human perception.
The event will last approximately 45 minutes and will conclude with a Q&A session open to the audience.
Credere alle Maschere stems from Romeo Castellucci’s research into the mask, an iconic element of theatre that transforms the act of viewing into a radical, collective experience made up of words, objects and images.
Here, the mask takes on a distinctive role: it does not conceal identity, but exposes it to the gaze of others. The focus of the action shifts to the spectator’s body: spectators are called upon not only to participate but to become directly implicated.
Together, the faces form a plural figure, almost a people, within a space that allows spectators to see and be seen, heightening this reciprocal relationship to its fullest intensity.
According to Romeo Castellucci:
“There is a room, sometimes it is white, sometimes black, sometimes it is draped in white if the room is black, sometimes it is draped in black if the room is white. There are no actors here, only things and words. There is a pipe that is not a pipe, but is only an excuse, and that is not the point. We go all the way, where there is a chair seen from afar that recalls Andy Warhol, that recalls me, that recalls you. There is a certain number of spectators and a certain number of rigid masks. They are equal numbers. Each mask belongs only to the person who happens to receive it, and it will be theirs for life.“
A director and creator of scenes, lights, and costumes, he is known worldwide for having given life to a theater founded on the totality of the arts and aimed at an integral perception of the work. His work offers a dramaturgy that overturns the primacy of literature, making his theater a complex art form; a theater made of extraordinarily rich images, expressed in a language as comprehensible as music, sculpture, painting, or architecture.
His productions are regularly invited and produced by the most prestigious international theaters, festivals, and opera houses, in over sixty countries spanning all continents.
At the LAC in Lugano he has presented Democracy in America, Bros — in its world premiere — and Bérénice, a production in which he directs Isabelle Huppert.
A recipient of the Golden Lion at the Venice Biennale and Officier de l'Ordre des Arts et des Lettres of the French Republic, he has received major awards and recognitions throughout his career.
Piersandra Di Matteo is a scholar, dramaturg, and curator in the field of the performing arts. She is a member of PerLA | Performance Epistemologies Research Lab at Università Iuav di Venezia, where she held teaching appointments for several years.
In 2026, she is an Associate Research Scholar at the Italian Academy for Advanced Studies at Columbia University in New York; in 2017, a Visiting Scholar at the CUNY Graduate Center. Since 2008, she has been a close theoretical collaborator of Romeo Castellucci, working as a dramaturg on his theatre and opera productions at major international institutions. She has lectured and led seminars at universities and research centres worldwide, including Harvard University, University of Pennsylvania, School of Creative Media in Hong Kong, Shanghai Theatre Academy, LASALLE College of the Arts in Singapore, DAS Theatre and SNDO in Amsterdam, UQAM in Montréal, and MITsp in São Paulo. She was Artistic Director of Short Theatre (2021–2024) and Atlas of Transitions Biennale (2017–2020).
Since 2024, she has curated residency projects for the Académie du Festival d’Aix-en-Provence. She is currently Curator-at-Large for FAULT. Field for Artistic Unmastery and Living Transmission at LAC Lugano Arte e Cultura.
SciArt is an IBSA Foundation project born to foster cross-pollination between scientific and artistic disciplines and to offer the community new keys for interpreting today's world.
Science and the arts have always coexisted across time and space. Though with different methodologies and aims, artists and scientists alike observe the world around them, opening up new perspectives, interpretations, and meanings.
Through various event formats and digital products, SciArt focuses on artistic creations that have been transformed through interaction with scientists, discoveries, and research institutes. Audiences can engage with these proposals and hear, directly from artists and scientists, how such different realities influence one another.
The project fits perfectly within the Foundation's mission, which since 2012 has been committed to spreading authoritative scientific culture, sharing principles and knowledge in accessible language, and raising awareness on topics related to science, culture, and individual wellbeing.