A Civitella Fellowship provides artists with solitude to create and dream, but as anyone who has been in residence knows, the cohort experience at Civitella—forming a community for six weeks—develops bonds where inspiration abounds. This is the special gift of Civitella. Group 3 connected in myriad ways:
When Yashika Graham and Sanne Rambags presented their work to the Civitella community, the importance of music in Yashika’s work and poetry in Sanne’s became apparent through their collaboration on stage. As Yashika said, “Growing up with music and storytelling around me has tuned my ears to the possibility of the voice and sound generally. It means that in my writing I am listening to find how the poem can deliver music while telling its story.”
Visual artist Bhasha Chakrabarti and musician/composer Immanuel Wilkins similarly shared how each other’s medium informs their practices. Immanuel explained he’s always been loosely inspired by visual artists, but as of late has been interested in developing ways his improvisations can be embedded in visual art. Meanwhile Bhasha, with Immanuel’s help, has been incorporating music into an upcoming exhibition she was preparing while she was here.
Writers Conchitina Cruz and Zeina G. Halabi deepened their connection through the act of translation. Zeina explained, “I was inspired by Conchitina Cruz’s poem ‘Wife,’ which incisively illuminates the psychological pathologization of women within the structures of the legal system in the Philippines and the banality with which such violence is rendered. I felt compelled to translate the poem into Arabic to examine how these critiques might reverberate within another linguistic and cultural context. In Arabic, the poem’s force shifted: the banality of institutionalized language, when transposed, acquired new textures and exposed different registers of systemic control. This act of translation initiated ongoing conversations with Conchitina and opened up broader discussions about how the intersections and dissonances between English and Arabic sociolinguistic contexts shape, complicate, and sometimes amplify the political stakes of the poem.”