Federico Protto
wpZimmer resident in 2024
Federico Protto’s artistic practice unfolds across and along performance, sound, installation, and research. Within the works, diverse practices such as choreography, music and mixtapes, fashion, sculpture, and text converge and intertwine with his South American background. At the heart of the artistic research lies an interest with sharing narratives surrounding migration and the colonial, and our individual and collective movements through the world(s). The practices weave together myths, ancestral notions, and fiction, creating a tapestry that spans a hybrid network of materialities, practices, and collaborators. Federico’s artistic aim is to contribute to innovative and im/material forms and tools that foster cross-continental kinship.
Their work has resonated internationally, engaging with institutions such as DeSingel and MOMU Fashion Museum in Antwerp (BE), Red Dawns Festival in Ljubljana (LSV), Centro Cultural de España in Montevideo (UY), Volksroom in Brussels (BE), Hošek Contemporary Gallery in Berlin (DE), ModaLisboa in Lisbon (PT), Weltmuseum Wien in Vienna (AT), and kunstencentrum BUDA in Kortrijk (BE). Federico participated in the artistic research post-graduate program a.pass in Brussels and completed a master’s degree in fashion design at the University of Applied Arts in Vienna, as well as Iceland University of the Arts in Reykjavik. Currently, he is immersed in a long-term sound-art and social project, ‘COUR,’ with Myriam Van Imschoot at Laboratories d’Aubervilliers (FR), and collaboratively working with various artists on the artistic research project titled ‘MAPA’ in Brussels and Montevideo. Born in Montevideo, Uruguay, based in Brussels, Belgium.
projects
mapa:reverie
In ‘mapa:reverie,’ Federico Protto explores a linguistic journey, a polyglot and gibberish blending, woven with fashion history and migratory experiences. He ponders the connection between textile and language, the emergence of new collective languages, and the potential territories they create. Through researching sung narratives, melodic poems, and new linguistic forms, reminiscent of troubadours, he draws from European fairy tales, commedia dell’arte, Latin-American indigenous myths, 90’s New York queer culture, and 20th Century magic realism novels.
This research, shared in performative moments throughout 2024, reflects Federico’s background in fashion design, emphasising the link between textile and narrative. Beyond Eurocentrism, the work celebrates human connection (love) and queer identity through transcultural storytelling. Shrouded in mist, curtains, and beddings, a performative research focus lies on gestures and symbolism of performance divas and nomadic arts. Accompanied by the sounds of Clarinet and electric guitar, and a publication serving as a libretto and index, ‘mapa:reverie’ invites to a sensorial exploration of migration stories and singular-plural self-expressions. After the series ‘mapa:lecture-performance’ and choreographic research ‘mapa:fragmentos’, ‘mapa:reverie’ presents the third aspect of my long-term research MAPA. This artistic research dialogues between Belgium and his birthplace Uruguay.