Next week, internationally renowned performance artist and academic Domenico de Clario (pictured) will set up camp on the banks of Flinders University’s Central Lake to research and develop performances for Crystal Palace.

Crystal Palace is a major exhibition being developed by Flinders University Art Museum for South Australian Living Artists Festival in August, and Mr de Clario is one of nine participating artists.

Exhibition curator Lisa Harms said Mr de Clario will respond to the University’s collection in a series of documented activities in the museum storage areas and around the grounds of the Bedford Park site.

Mr de Clario will perform using French-style harpsichords in response to artworks by iconic Aboriginal artist Albert Namatjira.

His interest in Namatjira is a personal one, having first heard about the pioneering Hermannsburg artist one year after migrating to Australia from Italy.

“I first saw an Albert Namatjira painting in 1957. My mother read out his name, and from that moment on I believed the artist that had painted such a beautiful image was Italian, because she told me his name was ‘Namagira, Alberto Namagira!’,” he said.

As former Australian Experimental Art Foundation (AEAF) Director, Mr de Clario has strong ties to Adelaide.

“Domenico’s recent intense involvement in the Adelaide art scene, as practicing artist, and as director of AEAF, and his richly inventive and intimately engaging performance history promises to make the residency a poignant and provocative element of the Crystal Palace project,” Lisa Harms said.

The residency will take place from 7 to 12 April.  Mr de Clario’s performance recordings will be shown during Crystal Palace, Flinders University City Gallery, State Library of South Australia, from 27 July to 29 September.