Deadline: 31 May 2024
As part of the Post-Colonial Frames project, IoDeposito is selecting contemporary African artists (and African artists who diasporate in Europe) for residencies and for the participation in an exhibition, which will be held in Italy, in the FVG Region.
Objectives
- By highlighting historical cause-effect links, helping the new generations who populate the area, families and citizens to reflect on the implications of historical events in reference to the contemporary. On the one hand, the process of geographical re-writing represents a still fresh experience in the area of the region, on the other, there is a non-negligible connection with the similar African experience: arrivals from the “Balkan Route” are still huge, the births of children with immigrant parents are increasing in the region ( Ulysses survey ), and, in a moment of strong humanitarian crisis caused by immigration, the 2023 survey by Demopolis on the state of “well-being of children and adolescents in Italy” has put highlighting that as many as 65% of the children of immigrants present in the area do not have Italian citizenship (among these, the majority have African parents): a situation that heralds the increase in identity disagreements.
- Approaching, through a divergent point of view, the difficult topic of Italian colonialism in Africa and in the world, to date little covered in school textbooks and unfortunately still little debated and researched in Italian universities: practically unknown to the new generations, the process of the removal of the colonialist history has been defined on several occasions by international historiography as a true cultural and historical blind spot.
- Bringing the history of the 20th century to a broad and non-specialist audience (particularly young people and families, but not only) through the use of contemporary art media. The project practices will constitute an opportunity to reflect, through artistic and participatory works, on the colonial processes of the 20th century and their legacy, developing historical knowledge and cognitive and emotional skills useful for the interpretation of the current situation in a new way:
- Two/three artist residencies (Italian, African and international artists) that become a catalyst for the involvement of citizens in collective research and ethnographies
- Two rounds of educational workshops, sensorial walking activities, counter-cartography and emotional cartography in the border landscape with historians and artists
- A final exhibition and related activities (guided tours, breakfasts with the artists, workshops, digital exhibition, catalogue)
Themes
- The topics they are interested in, are the following:
- Colonialism and re-writing of borders
- Colonialism and gender: intersectional perspectives
- Legacies of the violent colonial process to today’s world
- Diaspora and forced migrations
What they offer?
- To some of the selected artists (maximum 3) they will offer a short residency for the production of a new artwork: in this case they will offer a payment of a professional fee, travel costs, food, accommodation, and a budget for the creation of the artwork, which it will be shown in the final exhibition, in autumn 2024.
- To some of the selected artists (maximum 3) they will offer a fee for the loan of an artwork to be exhibited in the final exhibition.
- Please note: all the selected artists will be asked to come into contact with the audiences and citizens, through a system of events, educational workshops, video pills: activities that allow them to best share the artistic experience, promoting understanding of the colonial phenomenon by the population.
Eligibility Criteria
- Contemporary African artists in general, and African artists who diasporate in Europe, who have worked or are working on these themes, without limitation in the artistic media used.
- A particular consideration will be given to applications from Under35 artists.
For more information, visit IoDeposito.