CONTEMPORARY SHADOW THEATRE
A journey into the origins of our planet, the evolution of the animal species and men’s interaction with the earth beneath.
FOSSICK PROJECT is a duo formed by artist Cecilia Valagussa and singer-songwriter Marta Del Grandi. Their collaboration started in 2016 initially conceived as a setup for improv performances and evolved with storytelling as a central element: inspired by nature and the animal world, they decided to focus on the theme of endangered animals and to write their shows while visiting the habitat of the species they choose as protagonists. Throughout the years they perform in Italy, Belgium, France, India, Nepal and Thailand. Their live act consists of Cecilia’s analog animation on the overhead projector, on which she manually moves puppets drawn on scraps of colored film sheets and other materials such as sand, water and small objects. Marta writes songs and instrumental pieces in which the voice is combined with synths, guitars, beats and field recordings of the places where the shows are produced.
The duo has produced six shows so far, “Long Tong Tales” (2018), “The Great Giant Leap” (2019), “Fire Charmers” (2020), “Gilgamesh” (2022), “Underneath” (2023) and “Monkeybiz” (2025). In 2020 they worked on their first original film titled “Wild Card”, a music and analog animation 20 min short. For this project, the duo had the opportunity to collaborate with the Trip-Hop music producer Howie B (Bjork, Massive Attack, U2…). Since 2020 they produce audio-visual work in collaboration with film directors, festivals and organizations all around the world, keeping music and analog animation as central elements and developing a special visual and sound narrative composition technique.
Cecilia Valagussa Cecilia Valagussa is an Italian illustrator and comic artist with a free and multidisciplinary approach to storytelling. Her works have been published in international magazines such as VICE US, Stripburger, Kutikuti, Kuš!. She is the author of five graphic novels: Les errances du Vaurien (Obriart éditions, France), P.I.G.S. (VOStripgilde Uitgeverij, Belgium), ColoreInferno (Ifix Edizioni, Italy), Gilgamesh (Vite éditions, Belgium - Obriart éditions, France), and Null’altro che un lampo (Hoppìpolla, Italy). Between 2009 and 2013, she was a member of the Collettivo F84, focusing on public art projects. She currently lives in Bologna and works at the shared studio Checkpoint Charly where, since 2021, she has continued to develop projects that span comics, illustration, animation, and performing arts.
Marta del Grandi is a singer, composer and producer from Milan. Guided by a strong passion for travel and for the discovery of different places and cultures, after her music studies in Belgium she moved first to China, for a short period, and then to Nepal, where she lived for two and a half years in Kathmandu. Being in such a different environment and getting to know it deeply influenced her gaze on the world and consequently the music and lyrics she wrote for her debut album “Until We Fossilize” (2021, Fire Records) and for the following “Selva” (2023, Fire Records). Besides her main projects she’s been involved in numerous collaborations with musicians from Europe and Asia, among which the Belgian group Mòs Ensemble. She’s worked for several audio/visual projects including music for film and advertisement.
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2023 - Outsiders webzine (IT)
2022 - Teatroteatro.it (IT)
2021 - Rapso Mag (IT)
2020 - Rockit (IT)
2020 - Hoppipolla (IT)
2020 - Pulp De Luxe (NL)
2020 - Il Foglio (IT)
2019 - Topipittori (IT)
2019 - The Kathmandu Post (EN)
2019 - Lincon school Nepal (EN)
2018 - One More Generation (EN)
2018 - Note Spillate (IT)
2018 - Halla! (EN)