Paper camp
Sardinia
A site-specific field for material research, self-topography, and creative labor
October 2025 – Central Sardinia
Paper Camp Sardinia is a guided, in-depth program dedicated to the creative exploration of paper as both a medium and a method of thinking.
Hosted in an isolated rural location between Cagliari and the Sardinian interior, this edition of Paper Camp offers a rare opportunity to step away from the rhythms of everyday life and enter a space designed entirely for concentrated work, guided experimentation, and deep connection with material and land.
Rooted in the philosophy of Paper Lab Berlin, the camp provides both structure and openness—offering hands-on learning, conceptual dialogue, and time for self-directed research. The surrounding landscape—marked by cork oak trees, dry soil, distant mountains, and sun-worn silence—is not just a backdrop but a collaborator. The environmental stillness of Sardinia allows for expanded attention and tactile thinking, where paper becomes a tool to trace presence, history, fragility, and transformation.
Sardinia – Isolation as Heritage, Landscape as Knowledge
Sardinia is an island shaped by endurance, ritual, and distance. Its long history of self-sufficiency, its deep connection to ancient crafts, and its physical detachment from the Italian mainland have given rise to a cultural identity that is both protective and poetic. Here, silence holds memory, and gestures are slow by necessity.
From the nuragic stones to the woven threads of everyday life, Sardinia’s traditions remain rooted in the hand. Its landscapes—barren, gold-lit, unforgiving, and full of hidden softness—offer a space for attention. In this camp, we draw from that character not to imitate it, but to practice a way of working that honors slowness, labor, and listening.
Inspired by the spirit of Sardinian artist Maria Lai, whose work wove together land, myth, language, and relational rituals, Paper Camp Sardinia values connection over presentation, and the act of making as a form of living. The island’s geography is not neutral; it encourages a type of practice that is stripped down, essential, and honest. It invites presence.
Labor, Process, and the Creative Field
The Paper Camp is structured as a production-focused residency. Days unfold through shared and solo studio work, guided workshops, group critique, and walks or outdoor sessions that reconnect the artist to place and process.
The heart of the camp is labor—not in pursuit of speed or outcome, but as a method of reflection and discovery. Through repetition, layering, and tactile engagement, paper becomes a living material—shaped, mapped, cut, cast, stitched, soaked, pressed, or preserved.
Participants will work across a wide range of techniques including:
2D and 3D paper production
Casting and mold-based form making
Piercing, stitching, folding, and layering
Working with plant-based materials, natural imprints, and environmental interactions
Approaches to topography—conceptual and material
Building installations and systems of paper-based space
The work is both technical and poetic. Each participant is encouraged to explore their own artistic language while supported by expert instruction and collective presence.
Conceptual Foundation
Paper is approached not only as a material but as a language of memory, fragility, and form. The camp emphasizes self-topography—the process of mapping inner landscapes through matter and gesture. Each participant arrives with a different set of questions, instincts, or unresolved thoughts. Paper Camp is a place to test them.
Conceptual dialogues will address themes such as:
How material carries memory
What it means to work with erosion, layering, and trace
The difference between building and preserving
Working site-responsively
Slowness, solitude, and time as artistic tools
Structure & Invitation
Paper Camp Sardinia is held in a fully isolated countryside house, surrounded by natural land. The studio is open daily, and all tools and materials are prepared in advance. Guidance is offered throughout each day, while time and space remain open for personal rhythm and depth. Outdoor work, collective meals, and presence in the landscape are integral to the experience.
The group is intentionally small. Participants are selected through individual conversations, to ensure alignment with the camp’s rhythm, values, and communal atmosphere. This is not a course—it is a creative habitat.
Join the Introductory Zoom Session
We warmly invite you to an introductory session on Zoom:
Tuesday, August 19th, 2025
In this conversation, we will introduce the concept of the camp, the location, the structure, and the expectations. You’ll have the opportunity to ask questions and determine whether this framework feels right for you.
Two weeks after this session, we will finalize the group and close registration.
All selected participants will then take part in a series of four online preparatory sessions—designed to build shared ground, offer early materials and reflections, and ensure each person arrives both ready and connected.
Paper Camp Sardinia is for those who want to think with their hands.
Who seek creative silence without stillness.
Who understand that the real work begins when repetition meets presence.
Join the Introductory Zoom Session
Fill out some info and we will send you invitation for our online session