Born from a passion for community and creativity, Masseria Wave has quickly become a beacon of cultural and social innovation in the Italian region of Puglia. Since 2020, the project has redefined a historic masseria into a hub for exchange in all forms of art and diversity. Now, under the theme “Out Of Office” – focused on re-evaluating daily life and burnouts – their 2024 season is full on with a multidisciplinary program.Read on to find out the journey, the projects and the reasons that set Masseria Wave apart in Italy’s cultural landscape.
Can you tell us about the journey that led to the creation of Masseria Wave? How would you sum up your evolution since the beginning in 2020?
MW was born after I moved back to my native region Puglia from London. The creation of MW has come out very naturally – like an uncontrollable personal need – through the purpose to re-create free time conception in a place that is dear to me, in order to share it with local people and hand over to them what I was able to learn and experience in other countries, particularly in the queer culture and LGBTQIA+ dimension. The result was immediately felt as revolutionary, because it was unheard of in South Italy, even more so in a remote corner of Puglia such as Salento. I strongly wanted to create the conditions for a place where a community that is hardly acknowledged and protected in South Italy could not only feel welcomed but also protected. This in a context rife with a constant element of art and creativity, and most of all exchange, so to give artists and performers the opportunity to have their own space for exposure and growth, and to give the public – even the working-class – the opportunity to chance upon a context they had thus far ignored.
It has been and it’s still a long journey whereby we tried to import and convert all the beautiness collected around the world, to Puglia – a region where there’s no just Italian romanticism and stereotypes. But also culture and human discovery.
Italy is a mega-tourist country that often thrives on international visitors. How has Masseria Wave reinvented the approach to classic tourism? Could you explain more about the “new culture of hospitality” that you promote?
The approach to classic tourism that MW had during this period is our biggest challenge. Millions of tourists land in Italy every year, especially in Puglia during the summer season. Promoting a new culture of hospitality means we set MW as an inclusive venue based on respect as a SAFER place – where we try to do our best to create a new wave of finding yourself during vacations.
New culture of hospitality means you can be whatever you want here, even if you spend just a day by the pool and having just a work break lunch. We promote the culture of music and networking tourism by converting an historical place like the Masseria into a cultural production spot.
Our approach is the exact opposite to the rampant “over tourism” and we have been practicing it before it became a public matter. We promote what we decided to define as “connection tourism”. A vacation based on human bonds, connections that generate creativity and new visions. This includes mental wellbeing that is restorative, far away from the toxic metropolitan environment just as from the touristic destinations harassed by a touch-and-go approach.
You were the pioneers of the first Ballroom in Puglia. Are there any other milestones of this kind that you would like to achieve? What do you think is your true impact on the local and cultural community in Italy?
We brought an expression of ballroom scene ( like a kiki ball ) 2 years ago to show the folks of Puglia the incredible energy these communities have. It was also an opportunity for the whole South Italian ball community to meet in a safe and incredibly miscellaneous context, together with intrigued families, children and people of all ages who were fascinated and bewitched. It was magical and surreal.
In this regard, what made you want to bet on Puglia despite the challenges it could bring? Is there any challenge you have overcome that you feel especially proud of?
We’re living in a very dark historical and political moment in Italy nowadays. The big wave of right parties running in Europe and the Lecce area is pushing us to do and to create more and more events where people can meet and not feel alone. Porn Wave is for sure one of our babies we’re most proud about – spending 2-3 days discussing non standard aspects of the porn industry through interviews, independent screenings, etc. Through this format we mainly want to tear down the taboos and the embarrassment about a conversely important matter and its urgent implications: talking about it (porn) creates awareness and offers the tools not only to live one’s own sexuality more freely, but most of all to identify the dangerous implications this subject can sometimes hide. Porn Wave shows how entertainment can be a powerful way for education and evolution.
Your two-month festival has just begun,with more than 50 events scheduled and dozens of guest artists. What do you expect to be the highlights of The Out of Office Edition? What is the essence behind this theme?
The ’24 edition of Masseria revolves around the theme ‘OUT OF OFFICE, a way to reflect and discuss the topic of decentralization, the value of the suburbs, the re-evaluation of everyday life, the effects of rampant burnout… with the exceptional opportunity of experiencing these exchanges in an all-encompassing, immersive community dimension, the experiences of our guest. Highlights of this season and for sure not to be missed are Tash LC (August 8), Slim Soledad (August 10), Porn Wave with Maria Sofia Federico, one of Italy’s most popular activists, on August 15, the date being basically Italy’s Midsummer fest.
If there is something that also stands out in Masseria Wave, it is the diversity of its projects and activities. How was it like to develop initiatives such as Porn Wave or Wave Zine? Is there anything that has marked you during their creative process?
We act upon the inputs we receive from the audience itself. We developed our special projects, such as our zine and our focus events on porn, women empowerment, second generations, etc., inspired by the very same people who experienced our space and events. Relaxed and often intimate chats with guests and artists are the best occasions, when enlightening cues come to be and from which collateral projects are born. The objective is always to create a community beyond the summer edition, which goes on to live and elevate on different platforms.
Masseria Wave has the skills to host any type of art and discipline that the Wavers want to develop. Would you say there is one in particular that is unique or that you do especially well at Masseria?
We are always becoming and always open to include new art forms. Music is the central thread, without a doubt. But we don’t hamper any opportunities. Instead, we are always looking for contaminations. With each season comes at least one new discipline that entertains, energizes and tries us. We are already working on new contents and art forms that haven’t been dealt with yet, and we are super excited.
With the arrival of Pride, it always seems to be the moment of reflection of the year. What is your vision of the current state of the collective at a European and national level? Have you noticed any changes from your beginning until now?
The social media – and most of all, unfortunately – commercial attention towards the Pride movement during the time of the year chosen to celebrate it has indeed grown exponentially in the span of just a few years. It’s an opportunity for the visibility, belonging and spread of a message that we of course acknowledge as essential and indisputable. But the political effects, that is the most urgent ones, are unfortunately slower than the ones previously mentioned. In particular, Italy experiences a worrying impasse with regards to the political debate about the rights of the LGBTQIA+ community. Reflection beyond the “pride month” is necessary. And we at MW are committed to this.
Finally, let’s look into the future. How do you wish Masseria to be in 5 years?
In five years, MW will definitely be an international community. Always starting from the suburbs in which it was born, MW will expand through a programme of events and first-time surprise visits, connections and varied partnerships in every part of the world. MW won’t be limited to its actual farmhouse building, which will still be its pulsating hotspot: MW will be ever more alive, on the road, and growing by every person who will embody its message. A true wave of its own!