REWINDItalia and EWVA: methods, platforms and strategies to research early video art histories

This paper focused on two recent research projects – both based at DJCAD, University of Dundee – that have investigated early video art histories: ‘REWINDItalia’ concerning early video art in Italy in the 70s and 80s; and ‘EWVA European Women’s Video Art in the 70s and 80s’. These two projects (funded by the AHRC, and running from 2011-2017) have built online archives with ephemera, photographs, materials and interviews aiming to stimulate future research and provide fruitful materials and tools for artists, researchers, curators and art historians.

This paper discussed the issues, methodologies and approaches that emerged from our research and how it engaged with several issues including the identity and status of the artworks, preservation methods, and the legacy of early video artworks today. The interviews captured oral histories, memories and recollections, that in some cases would otherwise have been lost to future knowledge, as well as uncovering lost or marginalized artworks and their respective documentation.

The paper focused particularly on different practice-based research methods, platforms and strategies adopted during both REWINDItalia and EWVA. Discussed case studies will include curated screenings (Rome Media Art Festival, Rome, MAXXI, 2016) and curated events combining performance, screenings and readings including two curated by Leuzzi, with Giulia Casalini and Diana Georgiou (‘Autoritratti’, The Showroom in London, 2015, part of the feminist program ‘Now You can Go’ and ‘Self/Portraits’ at VRC, DCA, Dundee, 2016). It will also address re-enactment as research tool for early video artworks including Claudio Ambrosini’s Videosonata at VideoEx Festival (Zurich, 2014) and CCA (Glasgow, 2015) and ‘Doppelganger Redux’ by Elaine Shemilt at ‘Visions in the Nunnery’ (Nunnery Gallery, Bow Arts, London, 2016), curated by Leuzzi and Adam Lockhart.