Appointment of the Visiting Research Curator of UNIDEE | September 2022 - July 2024 | open call & selected new curator

PREMISE

UNIDEE – University of Ideas / residency programs is an educational and artistic programme based on an interdisciplinary research, a sharing of knowledge and an exchange of experiences, aiming at promoting processes of contamination between knowledges and practices, in order to investigate the relationship between art and the public sphere.

Since 1999 UNIDEE has consisted of a residential, collective, and experiential 4 months format centred on the vision of art as the driving force of the dynamics of the two elements of freedom/responsibility. The artist acts as a facilitator who contributes to triggering and carrying out processes of change in the contexts in which they live and work.
This position is based on the awareness that “critique is not enough” (please see Cittadellarte’s exhibition Critique is not enough, curated by D. Reichert in 2002), but it is necessary as starting point of a concrete commitment in the civil arena and in the incessant work of exploration, development, and transformation of what is real, imaginary, sensitive or invisible.

In 2014 UNIDEE residency programs developed a format of shorter modules participants can apply to on a singular basis or as a whole program up to a 3 year course. These are mainly held at Cittadellarte and are even more explicitly aimed at promoting and accompanying a (re)localisation of participatory artistic practices in local contexts.

Please browse this same website for more info.

UNIDEE residency programs is a multidisciplinary programme open to all creative professionals with a high school diploma, from visual artists to cultural operators, designers, architects and anybody whose practice is based on assuming a responsible attitude in society. The objective of UNIDEE residency programs is to activate the ability to produce social transformation through artistic practices both at a local level (Biella, where Cittadellarte operates in a specific socio-economic context, as well as the local ecologies within the countries in which participants live) and at global level, since everybody acts as a localised agent with different (but inevitable) degrees of connection with the other and with the whole. UNIDEE residency programs explores the relationship between art and society, and promotes the role of artists and creatives as activators (artivators) of a responsible transformation of society.

The driving force of the residency programme is the understanding of each individual practice as an articulation of a collective approach towards a common goal. The basic vision is rooted in the awareness of the potential that could be generated by self-organised social artistic ecologies in an open, visible, and networked organism.

UNIDEE worked and reflected for over 20 years on Sustainability. Indeed the very center of Cittadellarte and UNIDEE itself has always been how to connect society through art and how to activate a responsible social transformation. Sustainability as the core of Education, the goal of Politics, the rule of Practice.
All the themes UNIDEE students developed through years explored the different meanings and variations of Sustainability: negotiating identity and economy, re-founding the concept of authority/authorship and its impact, exploring the relationship between common and public, experimenting with forms of unextractive enjoyment and reciprocity, discussing the reasons and the visions that animate institutions, circuits and other specific forms of collective gathering such as Cittadellarte itself, and re-discovering the implications of demos, cratos (power) and praxis in a quest for a demopractic articulation of the societal.

UNIDEE / residency programs participants are invited to contribute to, refute, comment, and debate Cittadellarte’s vision and initiatives, which are constantly evolving through reconsiderations and revisions, checks and transformations. Cittadellarte has and maintains an extensive network of localised agents openly representing its essential vision, expressed by the myth and narration of the Third Paradise and the political laboratory of demopraxy (see www.terzoparadiso.org). 

UNIDEE / residency programs residents can make use of all Cittadellarte’s instruments, including the active platforms and databases (www.geographiesofchange.net and www.visibleproject.org, both conceived and maintained by Cittadellarte).

ROLE AND DUTIES OF THE VISITING RESEARCH CURATOR

The Visiting Research Curator is responsible for shaping the research arc of the UNIDEE Residency Program’s activity, which includes weekly residential modules and residencies, in agreement with Cittadellarte’s director and the UNIDEE staff, according to Cittadellarte – Fondazione Pistoletto’s vision.

The primary duties are:

• Proposing an overarching theme/curatorial proposal for the duration of the research arc 2022 – 2024.
The general curatorial proposal, must bring a meaningful contribution to the research about Sustainability carried out by Cittadellarte since it was established, as well as by Michelangelo Pistoletto himself, and delineate the traces of a theoretical and practical development specific to the context of a basic vision that can be summarised with the sentence “Art for a Responsible Social Transformation”.

• Designing, planning and helping deliver the various residencies modules that make up the program.
Definition, in collaboration with the mentors, of the modules’ contents and specific methodologies, dates and presentation outlines written by the mentors in dialogue with the Visiting Research Curator, of the guests to involve (one per module) and of any other necessary activity and communication. This includes:
• identifying, approaching and organising guest mentors and artists who will help deliver residencies/labs/modules
• writing the curatorial statement and open call that will be used to attract residents
• helping to disseminate this open call through your own networks and social media channels
• selecting the residents from the applications
• preparing welcome packs and preliminary information required by the residents and guests
• hosting and facilitating the various workshops, presentations, discussions, critiques, one-to-ones, visits and other activities that constitute each residency module (in presence)
• communicating with guests and residents prior to, during and after the activity

• Documenting, evaluating, and reflecting on the experiences and learning generated throughout the research arc.

The conception, editing and production of publications (web-based and/or hard copy) that document the activity of the research arc for both the participants (residents and guests) and a wider audience.

Other duties:

• For communication:
  • Drafting and supervision of all texts and materials published on the UNIDEE residency programs site
• Supervision of texts and interviews about UNIDEE residency programs, in particular the ones published on Cittadellarte’s Journal;
• Co-drafting and circulation of the open call for the long residencies;
• Supervision of texts and graphic material produced during the residencies (press releases, advertisements, open calls, UNIDEE notebooks, etc.);
• Support in the circulation of the programme among contacts, academies, universities, cultural institutions, etc.

•  For the selection of the residents:
• Participation in the choice of the artists for the long residencies from CVs and motivational letters;
• Participation in the choice of the artists for the modules among the applicants who have replied to the open calls.

• For Dissemination:
• Definition of a dissemination strategy of the program. Since UNIDEE is a platform for artistic research, Cittadellarte request to the Visiting Research Curator to plan and define a strategy to disseminate the results of the curatorial program according to international standards for artistic research dissemination. As examples, books, research papers, conferences are really welcome.
• Contributing to journals/conferences and other opportunities for dissemination of the program both within Cittadellarte (including the Cittadellarte Journal) and the Unidee Academy program.

• (Minimum) presence at Cittadellarte:
• One month to experience and research Cittadellarte’s activities, plan the modules and draft the statement.
• During the modules: Visiting Research Curator should be present throughout the length of the module, introduce the module to the participants and take part in debates, and be present at the final event.
• The visiting research curator must guarantee a 12-week presence in Biella during the year, which runs from September to July.
• Participate in meetings with the UNIDEE residency programs partner institutions, on agreed dates. (online or in presence)
• Participate in meetings with the staff of the Unidee Academy and other offices of cittadellarte. (online or in presence)


CANDIDATE'S PROFILE

For the 2022-2024 edition of UNIDEE Residency Programs we are particularly interested in a curator who has experience working in the contexts of the Middle East, the southern shore of the Mediterranean and/or the Euroasia region, who has the capacity and interest to investigate in depth issues related to North-South East-West tensions, combining the discussion of broad themes and visions with the analysis and approach to artistic projects on the ground.

In addition, they should have the necessary experience to include in their modules expert views from diverse fields of knowledge and be able to contribute to broadening the scope of the residency to participants from outside Europe, also by promoting cooperation with other institutions.

The ideal candidates matches the following profile:
- They have experience in curatorship of Art in the public sphere and of Social innovation;
- They have a specialised knowledge of international contemporary art;
- They have experience in the fields of innovative, experimental, experiential and horizontal educational activities;
- They have experience in artistic research practices and research dissemination standards;
- They are willing to become attuned to Cittadellarte’s vision;
- They have an excellent knowledge of the English language (communication in Italian is not essential but is welcome).


HOW TO APPLY
- Applications must be received by 12 am CET on 27th April 2022 via email to this address: unidee_visitingcurator@cittadellarte.it
- Applicants must present a project containing a general statement positioning their vision in regard to the programme and an indication of the strategy for its development; 3000 characters max, and a CV.
- Applications will be acknowledged with a reply of confirmation and all subsequent communication will be sent to the email address used for the application.


DURATION AND SALARY

The appointment will be temporary and last 24 months, from July 2022 to June 2024. The Research Visiting Curator, as per appointment in question, will receive an economic and regulatory treatment in line with their level of professional experience.

APPOINTMENT

The CV and the project will be evaluated by Cittadellarte, with a possible call for interview.

TREATMENT OF PERSONAL DATA

Cittadellarte - Fondazione Pistoletto Onlus is responsible for the treatment of the data.