L’appartamento is exactly that: An apartment and a workspace in the heart of Napoli, Italy.
At 120 m2, it comprises a home plus 2 large rooms, each a live-in workspace. L’appartamento is a place to come for a creative retreat, to work on a project, to experience life in the South of Italy and Naples, and to be inspired by your time here.
Residencies are open to artists and creatives of all types, those experimenting, those emerging, and those already established.
Let’s start with a ramble on the background and the location, if you want the nitty gritty first, scroll on down…
Why Naples?
The Apartment and the City
A long, depressing, and fruitless search for a non-mouldy, one-room flat in Naples found me viewing, on a whim, an enormous, light-filled apartment in a centuries-old palazzo. It had no doors, no kitchen, a demolished bathroom, and a delightful amalgam of tar and cement flung across the once-polished stone floors. With my then appalling Italian, I signed the contract the very next day. Luckily it worked out…
I landed in Naples in much the same fashion. Living in Berlin at the time, I came to visit the friend-of-a-friend for a quick trip. Immediately, I fell in love with the city, and after returning to conduct a sort of disorganised reconnaissance, I picked it all up and moved here.
What is Naples?
Intangible, primordial, human, resisting of the advancing march of globalisation and homogenisation, it’s entirely unlike the rest of Italy and has the energy of, say, an Indian metropolis, populated by Neapolitans. A place with no regard for law or rules, what is done is what is judged the best for oneself. 10 year-old motorcyclists, washing hung in the street, groceries delivered via basket and rope and general mayhem and spirit fill the streets of a city that is jammed with glorious baroque churches, palaces, greek and roman ruins, and the remains of the splendour of the French-Spanish Kingdom of Naples.
Settled by the greeks in the 2nd Millennium BC, it's a city that is layered, literally, upon itself, with subsequent civilisations, invasions, reigns and migrations, nobility and the poor that served and rebelled, resulting in a kind of anarchic-survivalist attitude, home to all. Cultural movements and activity found fertile ground in these conditions, creating a place of
such beauty, whether natural, man-made, or decaying, that has been the inspiration and temporary home to masters of art and literature: Degas, Warhol, Caravaggio, Dostoevsky, Goethe, Sartre, Shelley, Turner, as well as producing it's own renown modern artists, such as Francesco Clemente, Luciano Fabro and photographer Mimmo Jodice.
An interesting perspective on the contemporary cultural climate of Naples.
The Surrounding Terrain
The Bay of Naples is entirely volcanic and holds the ever-looming volcano Vesuvius, the Campi Flegrei (Europe’s Yellowstone), the famous islands of Capri, Ischia and Procida, the Sorrento Coast, and the Amalfi Coast. All of these are easy day-trips, and provide a stunning backdrop to the city of Naples. Beaches, hiking, underground networks of caverns and catacombs, hundreds of archeological sites and ruins (including Pompeii), forests, festivals, arts and culture are always here should you need inspiration, or to clear your mind.
The tiny wonderful lagoon of the Bagni della Regina Giovanna
WHAT’S THE SETUP?
The Rooms
Terrace room: 24m2 with a terrace of about the same dimension, queen bed, furnished.
Central room: No terrace, but larger at 30m2, queen bed, furnished.
Wifi, fans, heating (gas), bedroom and bathroom linens and regular household items are supplied.
Both are of a size in which to work comfortably -we can also set up extra worktables should you need. The white wall space can be used for display of ongoing work.
The Apartment
Is on the second floor of an old palazzo (historic apartment building) of a typical Neapolitan style, with high ceilings and polished stone floors, and we share the kitchen and the 1.5 bathrooms. The apartment is above or near to shops and markets, and is a ten minute stroll into the centre of Naples (Centro Storico), and a short hop from the metro station. The area is mixed - the wealthy and the working class together, the buildings are grand, beautiful, and decaying, and is a traditional Neapolitan area, which usually means good mozzarella prices. Wine can be bought by the litre downstairs, and the fruit and vegetables are fabulous.
Supplies?
L’accademia delle Belle Arte (the university of fine art) is 800 meters down the street, so of course directly in front of it there are a few art supplies stores which I recommend. I can provide recommendations for most supplies - Naples is a small city but we will find what you need.
Getting Here and Around
We are shuttle-bus and metro ride from the airport, and from the central train station simply one metro ride.
Getting around Naples can be done easily by foot as it is quite small, but there is a range of public transport: trains, metro, bus and the funicular.
Vital bits:
What to expect of your residency at L’appartamento?
L'appartamento is a home away from home, a warm and supportive environment. It is intended to provide space for a 'creative vacation' - a retreat from professional and daily pressures - in order to explore, create, and return to inspiration, in any form that suits you.
Though you may arrive with concrete objectives and a defined project in mind, there is no expectation on our behalf of outcome, allowing for your creative endeavours to change form and energy, and providing a safe environment in which you may be wholly engaged in your practise, relax, experiment, and take in inspiration from your surrounds.
Organisation of time here is dictated entirely by the needs and desires of the artist-in-residence, with no pressure from us, and your days may be spent exploring Naples and its surrounds, in conversation and discussions with myself or other residents, excursions, creative output, research or, should you need it, creative isolation. Downtime and privacy are afforded to all on the premises.
Other Considerations:
L’appartamento is a tranquil place and should remain so, good care and consideration of the space, objects within the space, and other people living in the space is a requirement of your stay.
You agree to keep shared and private spaces of the house clean and respected.
The artist is responsible for own food and transport.
Residency Fees
two weeks: €800 | four weeks: €1520
This is the comprehensive residency fee with no extra fees and
includes taxes, the Italian Tourist/Visitor tax, cleaning, and supply of linens/towels
and other items related to household upkeep.
The artist must only provide personal items and supplies/ toiletries/ food.
Who runs L’appartamento?
A German/Australian lass, Amelia owes much of her adult state of mind to the caravan she spent part of her childhood in, and probably also to the ever-collapsing hillside staircase she was assigned the task of digging. After graduating in photography, she made the permanent move to Europe, landing finally in Italy.
L’appartamento is created from a long-held desire to share this glorious city with others, to be surrounded, inspired by, and to work with other artists and creative folk, and to give back to the community which has welcomed me here.
I’M INTERESTED AND WANT TO APPLY, WHAT DO I DO?
Fabulous, submit an application here and we’ll see what we can do…
A occasional web host problem means our response to you is sometimes landing in your spam folder. If you don’t see a response from us within 2 weeks, check there.
L’Appartamento is located in Napoli, Italy.
CONTACT:
Amelia Bateman
lappartamentonapoli(at)gmail.com
www.lappartamentonapoli.com
