12 Feb 2009

Advanced Course in Visual Arts 2009 at Fondazione Antonio Ratti - open call

The course

The Advanced Course in Visual Arts is an experimental project where dialogue and exchange among artists of different generations and nationalities stand at the heart of a unique artistic and learning experience. The course is open to twenty young artists of all nationalities, selected among the applications by a scientific commission. The selected participants attend conferences held by artists, critics and experts of other disciplines, are involved in theoretical seminars with the curators and guest lecturers as well as in daily workshop activity with the Visiting Professor. The programme also includes a project for the publication documenting the course and an exhibition project developed from the workshop experience.

Application

The application is open to candidates over eighteen. No study certificate is required, English essential. Attendance to the course is free, while accommodation expenses in Como and costs for the production of artworks are to be covered by the participants. The application form is available online on www.fondazioneratti.org, and must be filled in and sent online. The candidate will receive at his own email address a copy of his application form that must be printed, signed and sent to Fondazione Antonio Ratti, Lungo Lario Trento 9, 22100 Como Italy by 10 March 2009 (date of the postmark), enclosing documentation (preferably printed, or on CD or DVD for videos) of already produced artworks. In the 'Proposal' section of the application form the candidate should outline a project related to the statement of the Visiting Professor. This project will be evaluated during the selection, but won't necessarily be realized during the course. The selected participants will be contacted via email by 10 April 2009. The documentation is returned only on demand, to those who enclose a pre-stamped and addressed envelope.

Walid Raad

Walid Raad (1967, Chbanieh, Lebanon) currently lives between Beirut and New York. Artists and Associate Professor of Art in The Cooper Union (New York, USA), Raad's works to date include mixed media installations, performance, video and photography, and literary essays. Among his recent works are The Atlas Group, a fifteen-year project between 1989 and 2004 about the contemporary history of Lebanon, with particular emphasis on the Lebanese wars of 1975 to 1991. Raad's works have been shown at Documenta 11, The Venice Biennale, The Hamburger Bahnhof, The Museum of Modern Art , Homeworks and numerous other museums and venues in Europe, the Middle East, and North America. His books include The Truth Will Be Known When The Last Witness Is Dead, My Neck Is Thinner Than A Hair, Scratching on Things I Could Disavow, and Let's Be Honest, The Weather helped. Walid Raad is also a member of the Arab Image Foundation (www.fai.org.lb).

Statement: We Can Make Rain But No One Came To Ask

This workshop will engage artworks, writings, and concepts dealing with events of extreme physical, psychological, and other forms of violence. In particular, the workshop will concentrate on the philosophical, historical, political, economic, and formal assumptions that informed Walid Raad's art projects including The Atlas Group and Scratching on Things I Could Disavow: A History of Modern and Contemporary Art in the Arab World, and on Jalal Toufic's concepts, especially 'The Withdrawal of Tradition Past a Surpassing Disaster.' The focus will be on artist-led presentations, film/video screenings, and readings. Moreover, participants are expected to discuss actively their current research and/or art projects, in group sessions as well as in individual meetings.