UNIDEE – University of Ideas: open call for fall 2017 residencies

UNIDEE – University of Ideas is an higher educational programme based on weekly residential modules and on “other” ways of gaining experience in the meeting of critical theory, activism and artistic practice, not through subordinate relationships but rather through levels of interaction, exchanges and reciprocal interference. Into its third year, the 2017 programme is based on a close examination of three more macro-themes: Revolution, Desire and Mediation.

Kicking off in April, over the first 7 modules, the programme saw the participation of 55 residents, including established professionals and exceptionally gifted individuals currently completing their BA, MA or PhD degrees, representing 27 nationalities worldwide. They are visual and performance artists, curators, architects, critics, PhD candidates, anthropologists, museum professionals, etc.

Fall programme:

Trauma & Revival: Contemporary Encounters.
A project co-funded by the Creative Europe Programme of the EU
September 11–30, 2017

Curated by Aria Spinelli with Alexei Penzin, Anna Zafesova, Viktor Misiano, Jesús Carrillo Castillo, Kuba Szreder, iLiana Fokianaki and Emanuele Riccomi

What are the dialogues between Western and Eastern Europe? Are both sides still influencing each other? How do citizens see this joint past and how do they consider the present? And can policy-makers raise the awareness about the need for more exchanges in this field?

This residential three-week module, developed under the framework of “Trauma & Revival. Cultural relations between Eastern and Western Europe” and co-funded by the Creative Europe Programme of the European Union (2015–18), will reflect on the East-West cultural connections since the Second World War. The project echoes the context in which Europe currently stands, and it will specifically reflect on artistic movements and cultural exchanges between the West and the East, since the Cold War until today.

And if… Just if… (why the alternative Y did not take place)
October 9–11, 2017

Curated by Petra Köhle and Federica Martini

Application deadline: September 25

The workshop is based on the Art Work(ers) research project developed in the framework of the ECAV - Ecole Cantonale d’Art du Valais by Robert Ireland, Petra Köhle and Federica Martini together with invited guests.

The research investigates modes of productivity in the arts and industrial contexts, in resonance with the sites and working situations engaged by Unidee in Biella. The other site is the city of Ivrea, around the Olivetti typing machine industry.

The Subtle Urgencies
October 16–27, 2017

Curated by Adrian Paci, with Zef Paci and Leonardo Caffo

Application deadline: September 2

How to tune into and feel the call of the urgencies, at the same time intimate and collective, of the urgencies of the language itself, and look for possible answers? How to stay alert to the subtle signals that remind a form and encourage us towards an action beyond any default position?

The two-weeks experience which will involve Cittadellarte in Biella and Art House in Shkodër aims at investigating the dimension of urgency in research and artistic expression. The urgencies that push towards the articulation of a different thought can only be intimate and deep, but at the same time they do not belong exclusively to the individual subject.

During this workshop, participants will share ideas, suggestions, experiences, and actions that attempt to call into question the habits to investigate the subtle urgencies of making art.

96 Extraordinary Cockroaches
November 6–10, 2017

Curated by Assemble (John Bingham-Hall e Amica Dall), with Efrosini Protopapa

Application deadline: October 23

96 Extraordinary Cockroaches is a module in the form of a week-long game—a mix of Chinese Whispers and the surrealist parlour game, Exquisite Corpses. Starting with a single set of source materials, the players will work together in shifting groups to create new forms and meanings (whether aesthetic, social, political or economic) through repeated acts of synthesis and translation, each day starting by cannibalising the previous day’s work.

This module reflects on the assertion that underneath the modern use of the word revolution, to mean a break with the past, lies an older set of meanings: to revolve, to come back around, to revisit and repeat.

Socially and Community Engaged Art. What is it and who is doing it?
November 20–24, 2017

Curated by Rick Lowe, with Elpida Rikou

Application deadline: November 6

Who has authority to determine when social and community engaged work is art or not? What does it mean for a social and community engaged work to be called art? What is the political significance of social and community engaged art?

Starting from the experience and sensibilities of the mentor, guest, and participants, this module aims to identify the most interesting social engaged work around the world and critique it based on its practical and symbolic/ poetic impact. Specifically, it will explore various projects and artists to gain insight into what determines a social and community engaged art, in order to consciously analyse the context of the surrounding communities and social engaged work in Biella.
 

UNIDEE – University of Ideas, the formative residential programme developed by Cittadellarte – Fondazione Pistoletto Onlus’ Education Office, is made possible thanks to the support of:

Patrons
Piedmont Region, Compagnia di San Paolo, Creative Europe, CRT Fondazione Cassa di Risparmio di Torino, Fondazione Zegna, illycaffè S.p.A.

Production residency collaborations & scholarships
RESO’ Network; A.M. Qattan Foundation (Palestine); Inlaks Shivdasani Foundation (India).

Institutional collaborations & scholarships
ZKM Zentrum für Kunst und Medientechnologie Karlsruhe (Germany); kim? Contemporary Art Centre, Rīga (Latvia); Minister of Culture of the Republic of Albania (Albania); National Gallery of Kosovo (Russia); Jyvaskylan Yliopisto, Jyväskylä (Finland); Austrian Culture Forum Moscow (Russia); École cantonale d’art du Valais – ECAV, Sierre (Switzerland); Fundación Universitaria Bellas Artes, Medellín (Colombia); Instituto Superior de Arte-ISA, La Habana (Cuba); École supérieure d’art et design – ESAD, Grenoble (France); Università degli Studi di Torino (Italy); Università IUAV, Venice (Italy); Accademia di Belle Arti di Brera, Milan (Italy); Accademia di Belle Arti di Roma (Italy); Accademia di Belle Arti di Bologna (Italy); Accademia di Belle Arti di Firenze (Italy); ISIA-Istituto Superiore per le Industrie Artistiche di Faenza (Italy); IULM-Istituto Universitario di Lingue Moderne, Milan (Italy); SACI Studio Art Centers International, Florence (Italy); Fondazione Bevilacqua La Masa, Venice (Italy); Queens Museum, New York (US); Center for Fine Arts (Bozar), Brussels (Belgium); Galeria Sztuki Wspolczesnej Bunkier Sztuki, Krakòw (Poland); HYDRO, Biella (Italy).

Media partners
Giornale delle Fondazioni; Roots&Routes.

For further informations and applications, please visit UNIDEE - University of Ideas website or please contact: unidee [​at​] cittadellarte.it.

Programme Director and Curator: Cecilia Guida
Programme Coordinator: Clara Tosetti
Assistant Director and Curator: Annalisa Zegna

Programme developed by Cecilia Guida for UNIDEE and Educational Office of Cittadellarte, in collaboration with Juan Esteban Sandoval (Art Office), under the supervision of Paolo Naldini.