The Pasta Workshops

“Pasta, much like clay, is a material with strong agency, as it is capable of
inciting action. It has a transformative nature and holds life, communicating it
reciprocally. We felt it was important to share this approach with the
students and encourage them to break certain predefined moulds”.

Sissi

“If I ask the students to define good art, I’m often met with silence. But if I ask
them to define good pasta, I am stormed with passionate conversations. If
indeed pasta, ceramics and art are all the same, and the students feel more
confident and excited by the subject of pasta, then why not use it as the
vehicle?”

Christian Holstad

The Pasta Workshops is the brainchild of Christian Holstad and Sissi Daniela
Olivieri. Starting from the similarity between modeling clay and kneading
fresh pasta, they initiated a workshop at the Academy of Fine Arts in Bologna (where Sissi teaches the Performing Techniques for the Visual Arts course) with the intention of giving students an experience that would encourage
them to explore new approaches and modes of expression that do not conform to traditional techniques. Thus, instead of clay and ceramics, pasta, a raw sculptural material with which to develop new edible art forms, was used.
The workshop, extended over three academic years (2020-2022), was also
part of the riparAzioni - Re-elaborate to art project, designed by the Academy of Fine Arts of Bologna for the PON METRO program, coordinated
by the City of Bologna and funded by the European Union.