This sounds rather cool doesn’t it? Check out the full details of this August’s Sputnik Festival in the press release below.
SPUTNIK FESTIVAL 12th ED. — PRACTICES OF TERRESTRIAL RESTANZA The village of Pisticci (MT) is transformed into an outpost of cultural research, comics, music and visual arts.
August 19 • 20 • 21 2026 Pisticci (Matera) www.sputnikfestival.it | @sputnikfestival |
From August 19 to 21 2026 the Sputnik Festival returns, the independent event that for twelve years has transformed the Lucanian village of Pisticci into an open-air laboratory where comics, music, cinema and performance come together in a spirit of celebration and artistic research. Bridging self-production, independent publishing and important Italian and international authors, the Sputnik Festival once again proves to be a unique space in Italy’s cultural scene.
THE THEME OF THE 12TH EDITION: PRACTICES OF TERRESTRIAL RESTANZA «Inhabiting is not a neutral fact. Inhabiting is a choice, a practice, a political act». Based on this premise, the twelfth edition questions what it means to stay, live and act in a place without reducing it to mere scenery, folklore or to a resource to be exploited.
The theoretical manifesto of the festival connects the concept of “restanza” developed by Vito Teti – understood as a critical stance, active choice and conscious act that implies responsibility and reinvention – with Franco La Cecla’s reflection on “local mind” (mente locale), understood as the ability to read and interpret the complexity of the territory refusing both the idealisation of the past and the global homogenisation.
Also recalling the idea of Bell Hooks (“Home is a practiced place”), the Sputnik Festival presents the act of inhabiting as a collective practice and transformative action.
In this context, the spatial and science-fiction dimension that has always been a distinctive trait of the festival is not a means to escape, but an instrument to reinterpret the territory: the inland areas become outposts of new possibilities and the marginal landscapes become planets to be explored. Guided by the ironic and strong principle “ALIENS WELCOME” (the inscription that stands out on the Ferrandina railway station), aliens and terrestrials become complementary figures of a way of living based on openness and care.
THE INTERNATIONAL ARTIST RESIDENCY This year’s great innovation, which adds an international dimension to the festival, is the international artist residency lasting one month. The organisation was made possible thanks to the funds of the Goethe Institut and of Culture Moves Europe (Culture and Creativity – European Union), the residence will also see the valuable collaboration of various and renowned partners: museo TAM, Strane Nuvole APS, Gli Audaci (a platform dedicated to comics culture), the Lucania Film Festival (with whom the collaboration on the animated short film section has been renewed for the second year in a row) and Atomico Progetti (fundraiser based in Matera).
Four extraordinary international artists will experience the territory to produce comic book stories about Basilicata and the main theme of the festival, Practices of Terrestrial Restanza:
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Loïc Guyon
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Maïté Grandjouan
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Lisa Blumen
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Thomas Gilbert
EXHIBITIONS, EDITORS AND PUBLISHING PREVIEWS The festival programme features an outstanding selection of leading figures of the world of comics and indie publishing:
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Diabolo Edizioni: will be present as the editor of Thomas Gilbert (who will be part of the residency) and as the Italian editor of the acclaimed author Maria Medem, who has signed the wonderful official poster of this twelfth edition.
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Eris Edizioni: comes to Pisticci with the highly anticipated authors of Luna brutalista, Samuele Canestrari and Luigi Filippelli.
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Canicola Edizioni: presents Il sogno della cicala, alongside the authors Dario Sostegni and Raffaele Sorrentino.
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Sputnik Press: the publishing company born from its collaboration with Akab presents the world premiere of the latest release in the Hazard series, a special volume created in dialogue and synergy with the theatre world. Andrea Bruno will also be present with his acclaimed Punica Fides. Also in the Hazard series, the book Schegge will be available, featuring writer Francesco Catelani and the outstanding illustrators Alpraz, Holly Heuser, Archivio di Ferro and Liz Van Der Null.
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Self-productions and graphic novels: among the most anticipated titles are Squame by Eugenia Erba and Anatomia di me by Mel the Sketcher.
Also, once again this year, the important and deeply felt political and cultural collaboration with Falastin Hurra has also been renewed.
AN EXHIBITION FROM ALL OVER ITALY (AND BEYOND) The beating heart of the festival will once again be its rich exhibition area, which this year will host structured projects and the most interesting independent publishing and self-production realities from across the entire peninsula and from abroad. Among the many independent exhibitors that will enliven the streets of Pisticci, it is worth mentioning: Nightputrid, Bande desolée, Sottobosco Edizioni, the valuable international presence of the South American publisher Azuldebolsillo, as well as the more rogue collectives Produzioni Pirata, Macondo, Kittycollartight, Crani Sciolti and Laverve.
WORKSHOP AND SIDE ACTIVITIES Sputnik Festival is also about education and sharing. During this fair, the preview of the outcome of the comics publishing systems workshop, held at the Accademia di Belle Arti of Reggio Calabria in collaboration with Sputnik Press will be presented. The original publishing works entirely realised by the students during the course will be on display and for sale. All the official merchandise of this year’s festival will be curated and produced by screen-printing studio BAUCI PRESS.
MUSIC PROGRAMME In the evening, the Sputnik festival will be shining a spotlight on independent and experimental music. The first confirmed names in this year’s line-up are:
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Uochi Toki
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Jackson Pollock
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Fanciullino
Because every place is a planet. And staying, today, is one of the most radical actions we can possibly imagine. We look forward to seeing you in Pisticci from August 19 to 21 2026.
