What does contemporary art mean and above all how (and to what extent) does the definition of contemporary adapt to the continuous change of time and history? What relationship does the creative idea maintain with the historical, social and environmental context? With the present, past and future? The new edition of the Arp itinerant training residency will delve into the notion of White Cube, or the idea of exhibition space.
ARP-Art Residency Project is a cultural and training and exchange programme in the field of visual arts, now in its 11th edition. The programme is conceived and promoted by the Documentation Center of Contemporary Artistic Research Luigi Di Sarro, with the contribution of Ministry of Foreign Affairs and International Cooperation (MAECI) and other partners, aiming to provide the beneficiaries with an opportunity for training, career development and promotion.
The winners this year are Ludovica Tata as curator, and Monika Milosewski, Xanthe Scout Lardner-Burke, Pierpaolo Perrone, Anna Tappari e Jakub Zawadzki as artists.
The ARP – Pack & GO formula challenges young artists to conceive and create a work that represents its own idea of contemporaneity and is transportable everywhere, in order to allow maximum mobility. The work submitted by each participant was evaluated and chosen by a jury composed of Alessandra Atti Di Sarro, who directs the project, and professors Simone Ciglia and Carlotta Sylos Calò. A young curator was also selected and tasked to work in dialogue with the artists to create the concept for exhibition events.
The heart of this project formula is the Hic et Nunc workshop, conducted by teachers, researchers, curators and art historians. The workshop opens with the revealing of artworks hidden in the physical and emotional luggage of the participants and pushes the group to confront and discuss the most current themes of thought on the contemporary. Over the two weeks of talk, visits and meetings the “giving back” exhibition is born, with its first location at Center Luigi Di Sarro, offering new life and sense to the artworks, according to a multidisciplinary approach and respecting the exchange of ideas, techniques and languages.
The first location for the public to meet the artists and see the works is then Rome, on 1st October at the h.6 pm with the opening of the first iteration of the exhibition. The Pack & Go circuit will continue with two international events, under the umbrella of the 21st Day of the Contemporary – promoted by Amaci, Maeci and Mic, in Italy and in the world – fully welcoming the theme for the 2025 edition which is “training, understood as a broad and plural process that crosses education, research, exchange of experiences and knowledge”.
“Giving back” exhibitions are unique events of a single evening (or a little more), where the works are presented, inviting the public to enjoy the art and offer a feedback in conversation with the artists. This suggests a path that emphasizes the need for a kind of theoretical and practical nomadism – an approch that keeps contemporary artistic research open to new ideas and opportunities. The second iteration of the exhibition will take place at Kulturno Informativni Centar (KIC) in Zagreb on the 7th of October at 5pm, made possible by the contribution of the Italian Cultural Institute of Zagreb. The final event will follow on 10th October at 7pm at the Turnus Gallery in Warsaw, thanks to the contribution of the Italian Culture Institute of Warsaw.
This year’s Hic et Nunc workshop is conducted by Giulia Bordi, Simone Ciglia, Barbara D’Ambrosio, Matteo Piccioni, Carlotta Sylos Calò and Alessandra Troncone, with the participation of Michaela Limberis in Zagreb and Ilaria Bernardi in Warsaw.
