05 Oct 2012

A*STUDY. Programme 2012-2013

A*DESK, Independent Institute of Criticism and Contemporary Art, is dedicated to learning, publishing and research related to the criticism of contemporary art.  Since 2005 A*DESK has published A*Magazine, an online magazine looking at criticism and contemporary art, which has become a point of reference in Catalonia, Spain and throughout Latin-America. Since 2007 A*DESK has run workshops and art programmes.


A*STUDY is a study programme intended as an introduction to, and for professional development within, the field of contemporary art. The third edition of A*STUDY will take place in Barcelona from November 2012 to June 2013 at A*DESK's central office.

The question of mediation is proposed as the central thread, that will trace the panorama of projects, agents and institutions that are involved within contemporary art practices. The programme counts on the collaboration of an elevated number of professionals with diverse profiles, and involves a series of visits to different spaces in Barcelona and workshops with the participation of internationally recognised figures within the art world. A practical laboratory will also be established for the development of projects for creation, research and mediation with the participants of the programme.

The program is aimed at people interested in understanding and reflecting upon the discourses and processes that arise within the practice of contemporary art. It stems from the consideration that the practice of art is developed out of the collaboration of a wide range of social agents, as well as that innovative production is only conceivable when experimentation is considered in relation to processes of cultural mediation, such as curating, art criticism or education.


Course coordinated by Oriol Fontdevila, art critic and curator

The programme includes contributions by: Amasté, Àngels Barcelona, Antoni Abad, Oscar Abril Ascaso, Tere Badia, Roger Bernat, Consonni, Mery Cuesta, Marcelo Expósito, Yaiza Hernández, LaFundició, Dora García, Latitudes, Jorge Luís Marzo, Antonio Ortega, Projecte SD, Laurence Rassel, María Ruido, Manuel Segade, Oriol Vilanova, amongst many others.


Includes 4 week long workshops:

Cultural transit in the era of media implosion. With Eloy Fernández Porta, writer and essayist.

Intersections and friction between the curatorial and education. With Javier Rodrigo, art researcher and educator; and Aida Sánchez de Serdio, lecturer in art.

Your moment is your heritage. Dialogue withthe past and the present . With David Maljkovik, visual artist.

The turn in recent curatorial practices. Negotiation and processes of emergence. With Paul O'Neill, exhibition curator, artist and writer.