ARP 9Edition. The HIC ET NUNC n.2 workshop continues the investigation into the idea of the contemporary. At the center of the meetings are the 6 winners of the residency program created with the contribution of the MAECI. The final exhibition on 7 October 2023 for the 19th GdC Amaci.

A work that reflects the contemporary to be carried with you in hand luggage. This is the challenge for 5 winning artists and a curator of the ninth edition of the ARP – PACK AND GO competition: a residency-workshop that questions and investigates the notion of the contemporary.

ARP – Art Residency Project is the artistic residency programme, conceived and created by the Luigi Di Sarro Centre, with the aim of promoting a disposition towards intercultural dialogue and the comparison of practices and methods in the world of art too. For its ninth edition it once again proposed the PACK AND GO formula, that is, the challenge of conceiving and creating a work that represents one’s idea of contemporaneity and which is easily transportable to allow maximum mobility.

We live in difficult years and even for artists, especially emerging young people, the slowdown, if not the forced blockade, of social relations created by the covid-19 pandemic, wars and the economic crisis has represented and represents an obstacle. The ARP program has always worked by promoting educational trips, but with this formula it wants to go further and attempt to cross not only geographical borders, but also emotional ones.

It was thought that a project that started from the analysis of the idea of the contemporary would offer fertile ground for returning to dialogue, confrontation, opposition and sharing.

The young artists selected Samela Balazi, Beatrice Caruso, Cheriese Dilrajh, Anna Martynenko and Mirino Mwandiambira and Azzurra Pizzi as curator come from European, Balkan and African countries.

The jury that selects the artists is made up of Alessandra Atti Di Sarro, Simone Ciglia and Carlotta Sylos Calò.

The Hic et Nunc workshop n.2 will be attended among others experts by Angelo Capasso, Simone Ciglia, Heidi Erdmann, Carlotta Sylos Calò, Matteo Piccioni and Alessandra Troncone, curated by Alessandra Atti Di Sarro.

ARP 8 Edition. Valona, Rome and Amsterdam are the cities involved in the itinerary of the new PACK AND GO formula. This year the program hosts 6 young people from Belgium, Germany, South Africa and Italy who have won the traveling residency created with the contribution of Maeci.

An artwork that declines the contemporary and to take with you in a hand luggage. This is the bet for 5 winning artists and one curator of the ARP PACK AND GO competition.
The residency program of the Centro Luigi Di Sarro is aimed at young people under 30 and is carried out with the contribution of Youth Exchanges from MAECI and other partners. A traveling workshop between Rome, Valona and Amsterdam to discuss and investigate the notion of contemporary.

What does contemporary art mean and, above all, how and how much can the definition of contemporary be adapted to the continuous change of time and history? 

The last few years have confronted us with the need to reflect on the Hic et Nunc, suddenly erasing that sense of stability that was associated with the idea of the contemporary era, our contemporary, peaceful and progressive era. 

In short, is history perhaps putting us in front of a new era? So will the future be the new contemporary? And how will art be able to respond to these mutations?

These are the issues on which the ARP program intends to dialogue. It will start in Vlore in Albania where the Consulate General of Italy will host the first meeting of the winners of the Art Residency Project for a Meet up that will take place on October 14, on the occasion of the 18th Amaci-Maeci Contemporary Day.
Artan Shabani, art historian, one of the founders of the Albanian Gallery of Art, will meet the curator Veronica Budini and the artists Mpumelelo Buthelezi, Florinda Ciucio, Amelia Kuhlmann, Svenia Jarisch and Giampaolo Parrilla, accompanied by Alessandra Atti Di Sarro, vice president of the Centro Luigi Di Sarro. On show the works selected for PACK AND GO that will come out of the luggage for the first time to ignite the debate.

The group will then return to Italy, to Rome, where the workshop will take place at the Luigi Di Sarro Center: 10 intense days of meetings, lessons, workshops and visits to museums and archaeological sites to continue to search for that connection that binds the ancient to the modern, the past to the future and thus to place one’s own contemporaneity in a broader reflection. To conclude the residency, the works of PACK AND GO, focused by the dialogue during the workshop, will return to the exhibition to question the public. The appointment with this second Meet up is for 25 October at the Centro Di Sarro Center, in Rome.

The conclusion will be held in Amsterdam, where the group will be hosted by the Italian Cultural Institute, to explore the city, its museums and its history. The Meet up with the public and the Dutch art scene will take place on 29 October.

ARP is an artistic residency program, conceived and implemented by the Centro Luigi Di Sarro, with the contribution of the Italian Ministry of Foreign Affairs and other partners. For its 8th edition, it has promoted the PACK AND GO formula, that is the bet to conceive and create an artwork that represents the idea of contemporary and that can be carried in a hand luggage to allow maximum mobility.
The Consulate General of Italy in Vlore, the Italian Cultural Institute in Amsterdam, Mediaaid Onlus and Rainbow Media NPO participate in supporting this 8° edition.

The jury of the ARP PACK AND GO competition, which selected the 6 young people from European, Balkan and Southern African countries, was composed of Alessandra Atti Di Sarro, Simone Ciglia University of Oregon USA and Carlotta Sylos Calo ‘University of Rome Tor Vergata.

ARP- Art Residency Project. Open Call for the 8th Edition of the competition dedicated to young artists from EU Countries, the Balkans and Southern Africa. Applications by August 10, 2022.

What does contemporary art mean and, above all, how and how much can the definition of contemporary be adapted to the continuous change of time and history? The last few years have confronted us with the need to reflect on the Hic et nunc, suddenly erasing that sense of stability that was associated with the idea of the contemporary era, our contemporary, peaceful and progressive era. In short, is history perhaps putting us in front of a new era? So will the future be the new contemporary? And how will art be able to respond to these mutations?

Are you a young artist who wishes to match with other points of view? Do you have the capacity to create an artwork that can travel with you and represent your poetics dealing with different ideas, techniques and languages?

Apply to the CALL for the Talents Exchange PACK AND GO!

ARP Talents Exchange PACK AND GO wants to offer young artists the opportunity of conceiving and creating an artwork that represents their own idea of contemporaneity and that can be transportable anywhere in order to allow it maximum mobility. The artwork presented by each participant will be evaluated by a jury who will select 5 winning artists. At the same time, 1 young curator will also be selected to work in dialogue with the artists, creating the concept of an exhibition event.

The Talents Exchange PACK AND GO will therefore be the opportunity to bring together in Rome 6 young creatives from European countries (EU), countries of the Balkan area and countries of southern Africa (SADC).

ARP-Art Residency Project, is the cultural and educational exchange program in the visual arts, conceived and promoted by the Centro di Documentazione della Ricerca Artistica Contemporanea Luigi Di Sarro, with the contribution of MAECI – Italian Ministry of Foreign Affairs and International Cooperation and Media Aid Onlus and with the collaboration of Rainbow Media NPO.

What the program offers:

The 6 winners of the competition will be involved in a 10-day training residency in Rome. They will participate in a workshop on the theme “Hic et nunc, the notion of contemporary”, which will include meetings with experts and scholars and a path of visits and activities at museums and monumental sites. At the end of the residency, an exhibition event will take place at the Centro Di Sarro headquarters, offering meetings and dialogue with the public.

After the conclusion of the program, Centro Di Sarro will take care of promoting the exhibition resulting from the Talents Exchange, prepared for PACK AND GO.

Who can join:

To apply to the Call you must be born or permanently live in a European Union country (EU), in a Balkan area country or in a Southern African country (SADC); you have to be U30; you must be fluent in English and be interested in having a group experience and willing to carry out the activities set out in the Call in the period between October and December 2022.

(IMPORTANT: airline tickets, accommodation and access to museums included in the program will be paid for by the organization. Participants will have to provide for personal expenses and their own food. The accommodation may include multiple rooms.)

How to apply:

The application, drawn up in English, must be submitted by 10th August 2022, by email to progetti@centroluigidisarro.it, with “ARP 8th Edition CALL” in the object and accompanied by the following materials:

  • Motivation letter with declaration of availability to participate in the period October-December 2022, under penalty of forfeiture (in PDF); 
  • Technical sheet and images of the proposed artwork which can be of any artistic discipline, as long as it can be transported in a bag that respects the rules of a hand luggage: 55x40x20cm weight max 8kg, no liquids and flammable materials (in PDF)
  • Portfolio (in PDF); 
  • Artistic CV, with specific mention of the level of knowledge of the English language (in WORD);
  • Copy of valid passport and proof of residence, if different from the country of birth; 
  • Proof of COVID19 vaccination and acceptance of the rules required for COVID19, based on the regulations in force in Italy and in the countries of origin at the date of the project.

ARP 7Edition at Cape Town Art Fair. 14-16 February 2020.

Alessio Barchitta, Giulia Fumagalli, Salvador Gomez, Grace Mokalapa, Zana Masombuka and Viktoria Nianiou end their journey with Arp-Art Residency Project at Investec Cape Town Art Fair, co-existence is the show of artworks made by the 6 winning artists during the six weeks of the art residency between Cape Town, Granada e Roma.

co-existence is an exploratory journey of interpersonal, geographical, and collective experiences of identity. We all exist in close proximity, but often without being aware of each other’s individual and shared experience. We move in built and organic environments that evoke emotional responses – beyond our consciousness – the scenography of our daily life.

co-existence is not the sum of individuals, but the result of this addition.

co-existence means sharing and reflecting on our identity in terms of culture, heritage, gender, and environment. One of the questions the project poses is: how we can realize a co-existence without disavowing our individual cultural heritage.  

co-existence will see three stages of travel, meetings, and research: Cape Town, Granada and Rome. (Alessandra Atti Di Sarro – ARP Director)

ARP 7Edition. co-existence the final show in Rome. Opening 14 Dec 2019.

Giulia Fumagalli and Alessio Barchitta from Italy, Viktoria Nianiou and Salvador Gomez from Spain, Zana Masombuka and Grace Mokalapa from South Africa, are the 6 young winners artists of ARP 7Edition. From the 14th of December 2019 to the 18th of January 2020 they will be on show with co-existence, the exhibition that concludes the art residency project between Cape Town, Granada e Rome.

ARP is a program of international residencies organized by Centro Luigi Di Sarro, with the collaboration of Rainbow Media NPO. ARP is aimed at engaging young artists under 30 with geographical and interpersonal exchanges. ARP 7th Edition – Talents Exchange has been made possible thanks to the contribution of the MAECI-Italian Ministry of Foreign Affairs and International Cooperation and to Media Aid Onlus and My Cape Town. The exchange project between South Africa and Italy began in 2009 and since then more than twenty-five artists have travelled and worked between the two countries. 

The present edition, took place in Cape Town, Granada, and Rome, adding a second stage in Europe. In November and December 2019 the Talent Exchange followed a new format: an itinerant route where each artist will have the opportunity to work on a research project in constant dialogue with the environment and the rest of the group. The participants have different stories and artistic background: Giulia Fumagalli and Alessio Barchitta come from Milan but Alessio was born in Sicily, Salvador Gomez comes from Barcelona whereas Viktoria Nianiou has studied in Spain but was born in Greece. Lastly, Grace Mokalapa and Zana Masombuka both live in Johannesburg.

ARP 7Edition. Meet up the artists in Granada. 5 December 2019

Giulia Fumagalli and Alessio Barchitta from Italy, Viktoria Nianiou and Salvador Gomez from Spain, Zana Masombuka and Grace Molakapa from South Africa are the six young artists who have won the 7th edition of the ARP Project. 

Following the journey in Cape Town, the Art Residency Project promoted by Centro Luigi Di Sarro is in Granada with the collaboration of Suburbia Contemporary Art.