Category: projects

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.

Yesterday the vernissage, from 18 to 20 doors open to the public. After two years of stoppage due to the Covid19 pandemic, the lively world of art meets in Cape Town for the most important and international fair in South Africa.

Scroll down to see the first pics

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.

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. On November 23rd they started co-existence, the first stage of collaboration at the end of their residency period in Cape Town.

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.

This experiment will see three stages of travel, meetings, and research. Cape Town is the first. Granada and Rome will follow. (Alessandra Atti Di Sarro) 

The programme of international residencies organized by Centro Luigi Di Sarro, with the collaboration of Suburbia Contemporary Art (Granada), Satellite (Cape Town), and Rainbow Media NPO, 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-Ministry of Foreign Affairs and International Cooperation and to Media Aid Onlus and My Cape Town. The exchange programme between South Africa and Italy began in 2009 and since then more than twenty artists have travelled and worked between the two countries. 

The present edition, number seven, will take place in Cape Town, Granada, and Rome. In November and December 2019 the Talent Exchange will follow 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.

The group will arrive in the Mother City on November 10th and will work at Satellite, a new space opened a few months ago by Jake Aikman in Woodstock.

“Jake Aikman is among the artists who had a residency in Italy through the exchange programme by Centro Luigi Di Sarro – says Alessandra Atti Di Sarro, the director of ARP – so this new collaboration makes us twice as proud. This year, ARP is targeting the Co-Create concept, we want to push young artists to get out of their comfort zone and exchange views, especially on the theme of identity, in all its complexities. ARP is not just a cultural bridge. The goal of the present edition, with the new itinerant formula between Europe and Africa, is trying to push Art and artists outside well-known boundaries, into unknown territories”.

Every city will host a Meet up Day to allow the six artists to present their research, put together a shared project and interact with different spaces and people. Next stage will be Granada, then the group will move to Rome.