Fabio Perletta

The residency at Termites Studio marks the culmination of a long-term research project titled “The Superorganism: a model for a new performative language” initiated in 2021 within “A Cielo Aperto”, a public art program based in Latronico, southern Italy. The project was subsequently presented as a workshop within the public program “If We Only Had Ears” of the Italian Pavilion “Due qui / To Hears” at the 2024 Venice Art Biennale.

In 2024, the project received support from the Directorate-General for Contemporary Creativity of the Italian Ministry of Culture through the Italian Council program (13th edition). This recognition enabled the development of two distinct research phases in 2025: the first conducted in Australia, focused on the performative heritage and listening practices within Aboriginal cultures, and the second on the island of Shōdoshima in collaboration with Termites Studio.


Conceived as an exploration of collective behaviour and interspecies organisation, “The Superorganism: a model for a new performative language” examines how the social structures of insects — characterised by decentralisation, cooperation, and non-hierarchical organisation—can inform new performative methodologies. The project investigates how these biological models may serve as frameworks for alternative forms of composition, collaboration and listening within the performing arts, extending its inquiry beyond aesthetic considerations to encompass social and ecological dimensions.

By engaging with the communicative and relational systems of insect societies, the project seeks to reconfigure anthropocentric modes of perception and performance. It proposes a paradigm rooted in interrelation and interdependence, acknowledging the agency of both living and non-living matter as co-constitutive elements within shared ecosystems of expression.

In Shōdoshima, I collaborated with Termites Studio, engaging in knowledge exchange with Professor James Jack and his students, as well as with artists Qiutong Zhai and Elica Matsuya, and members of the local community, collectively questioning the role of termites in the everyday lives of the island’s inhabitants.