Open call for the UNIDEE Visiting Curator 2025-26
Open call for the selection of the Visiting Research Curator of UNIDEE Residency Programs 2025/2026
Fixed term contract (up until January 2027)
Salary: TBD in line with level of professional experience
Location: Remote working and Fondazione Pistoletto Cittadellarte Onlus (Biella, Italy)
Hours of work: flexible including evenings and weekends
Application deadline: 11.59pm CET on 15th December 2024
Interviews: third week of January 2025
Fondazione Pistoletto Cittadellarte Onlus along with UNIDEE Residency Programs is recruiting a Visiting Research Curator responsible for shaping the research arc of the UNIDEE Residency Modules program activity in 2025/2026.
In 2024, UNIDEE Residency Programs celebrated 25 years of fostering educational encounters for artists involved in art and social transformation at Fondazione Pistoletto Cittadellarte Onlus in Biella (Italy). Founded in 1999 by Michelangelo Pistoletto, the residency programs have hosted thousands of artists and cultural professionals from 52 countries, exemplifying what art historian Gregory Sholette considers “a far-sighted and vibrant investment in the future of innovative, intellectually stimulating, and socially engaged cultural practices.”
We are now looking for a curator who is able to progress this legacy and, with us, take the first step on the path towards the next 25 years. The Visiting Research Curator will shed new light on the core themes and questions that have underpinned UNIDEE Residency Programs since its inception (art for the responsible transformation of society, artistic practices in the liminal regions of the art system or other social spheres, sustainability) through the lens of their own self-defined field of inquiry.
We are especially interested in proposals that acknowledge and depart from the previous research arcs of the UNIDEE Residency Modules (modes of instituting, embedded arts practices and the “non-issue” of the Mediterranean), incorporate the learning from our most recent modules of the “Ways of becoming: 25 years with UNIDEE” programme -ways of instituting through art practices, ways of learning through art practices, ways of hosting research and art practice-, and resonate with UNIDEE’s current projects exploring artistic research and production in response to contemporary ecological and geopolitical challenges.
BACKGROUND
UNIDEE 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 knowledge 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, 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 our website for more info: https://www.cittadellarte.it/unidee/
FURTHER INFO
UNIDEE Residency Programs is a multidisciplinary programme open to all creative professionals, 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 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 localized 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 alumni 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 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.
UNIDEE 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 Programs’ activity, which includes the UNIDEE Residency Modules (weekly residential modules) and the residencies, in agreement with UNIDEE’s Advisory Board and Cittadellarte’s director, according to Fondazione Pistoletto Cittadellarte’s vision.
The primary duties are:
• Proposing an overarching theme/curatorial proposal for the duration of the research arc 2025/2026.
The general curatorial proposal, must bring a meaningful contribution to the research 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 UNIDEE Residency Modules that make up the programme.
Definition, in collaboration with the mentors of the UNIDEE Modules content and specific methodologies, dates, guests to be involved (one per module), and any other necessary activities and communications. This includes:
• Writing the curatorial statement and open call that will be used to attract residents
• Identifying, approaching and organising mentors and artists who will help deliver residencies/labs/modules
• 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 mentors
• Hosting and facilitating the various workshops, presentations, discussions, critiques, one-to-ones, visits and other activities that constitute each UNIDEE Residency Module (in presence)
• Communicating with mentors, 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 mentors) and a wider audience.
Other duties:
• For communication:
• Drafting and supervision of all texts and materials published on the UNIDEE website that relate to the research arc of competence;
• Supervision of texts and interviews about UNIDEE and its research arc, in particular the ones published on Cittadellarte’s Journal;
• Co-drafting and circulation of the open call for the UNIDEE Research 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 UNIDEE Modules among the applicants who have replied to the open calls;
• Participation in the choice of the artists for the UNIDEE Research Residencies from CVs and motivational letters.
• For Dissemination:
• Definition of a dissemination strategy of the programme. 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 programme according to international standards for artistic research dissemination. For example, books, research papers, and 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 UNIDEE Modules and draft the statement.
• During the UNIDEE 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.
• 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 2025-2026 edition of UNIDEE Residency Programs we are particularly interested in a curator with knowledge and experience in the ‘post-artistic’ (as defined by Sebastian Cichoki – ‘a long-term artistic practice that does not lead (or only occasionally so) to the creation of a material work of art capable of a clear-cut allocation of authorship) and interest in the trajectories of engagement of current artistic practices that operate in the liminal regions of the art system or are already well embedded within other social spheres. We would see this as a ‘foundation theme’ that underpins the core work of UNIDEE Residency Programs.
On top of this are the more recent research arcs undertaken by Visiting Research Curators (‘modes of instituting’, ‘embedded arts practices’ and ‘the non-theme of The Mediterranean’ as outlined in prior curatorial statements: https://cittadellarte.it/unidee/archive.html), the subjects of the UNIDEE Modules Ways of becoming: 25 Years with UNIDEE (‘ways of establishing through art practices’, ‘ways of learning through art practices’, ‘ways of hosting research and art practices’), and current and ongoing projects exploring artistic research and production in response to contemporary ecological and geopolitical crisis.
The successful Visiting Research Curator candidate will propose a defined area of interest that cuts through these thematic layers with a distinct perspective. They will require 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 across and outside Europe, also by promoting cooperation with other institutions.
The ideal candidates match 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
To apply for selection, please fill out the online form: https://form.jotform.com/243154622579360
• A project containing a general statement of their vision for the UNIDEE Residency Modules program and an indication of the strategy for its development (maximum 3000 characters).
To be considered that the Research and Production residencies could follow the same subjects.
• Their CV and a portfolio (with a maximum of 3 relevant projects pertaining to the role for which they are applying).
Applications must be received by 23:59 CET on 15th December 2024.
• 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 February 2025 to January 2027. 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 call for an interview at the end of January 2025.
TREATMENT OF PERSONAL DATA
Fondazione Pistoletto Cittadellarte Onlus is responsible for the treatment of the data.
Photo Credit: Ways of becoming 25 Years with UNIDEE_Ph: The Social Valet