A 75,000 call for artists, on the theme of Covid's pandemic and current events

There is time until July 30 to participate in the Essential Acquisition Prize, promoted by Nctm Studio Legale, which has been working in the world of culture and visual arts since 2011. The call for proposals stems from the value Nctm places on art, believing it to be a paradigm of a design and context-sensitive attitude, as well as the lifeblood of paths to personal growth: thus, Nctm’s acquisition program has always paid attention to art in its most context-sensitive forms and shared themes. And in coherence with this attitude and with the unprecedented situation experienced as of February 2020, the Essenziale prize wishes to address Italian artists or those resident in Italy in the conviction that it has always been precisely larte that provides man with the images in which to recognize himself, collect himself, remember, grieve, and be indignant. So, too, this time it will be the artists who will allow us to interpret, elaborate and give shape to what, because of Covid-19 the country has experienced and from which it is now rising again.

Essential calls on visual artists to propose projects either made in the past period or to be made in the months to come, related to issues that have turned out to be crucial in the past year. The works will become part of the nctm and larte collection. The theme closely relates to current events: in 2020, with the Covid-19 pandemic and especially its tragic dimension and practical consequences, an unthought of condition has arisen. Sudden isolation, the suspension of so many activities and the usual geographical horizons, has meant that many existences characterized by strong dynamism have undergone a drastic change. For many, the situation has been an occasion for reflections concerning the meaning of time, the work/consumption relationship and the relationship between science and democracy. Themes such as the limit in its different meanings, fragility, existential uncertainty, the absolute importance of relationships, sensoriality, and physical experience have emerged in their cogency. The concept of resilience has taken on concreteness as has the need for a paradigm shift and way of being at the individual and collective level. Issues such as the relationship between democracy and science and the right to health and care in their different meanings were revealed in their centrality, as was also the access to digital tools. Above all, it emerged how important it is to be able to design. The same everyday vocabulary was suddenly seen to be eroded. Hitherto unfamiliar terms such as “lockdown,” “spillover,” or little-used ones such as “quarantine,” “distancing” emerged; while everyday locutions took on new meaning: the simple how are you? was charged with aninedimensional intensity.

These are just some of the spheres of reflection on which the current situation has affected. What has emerged from them? Everyone, from this period, will have drawn different conclusions. What, at this time of convalescence, appears to each one to be indispensable? What is essential? In what forms can this renewed awareness be concretized? Nctm and larte poses this question to artists, in the belief that the situation may have prompted many of them to face reality in depth and to decline, through their work, different answers to these questions. Particularly to artists in whom this period has triggered a process of rethinking that has led them to glimpse lessential, and they have desired, or wish, to give it a sensitive form of work.

The call provides for the selection by Nctm of one or more works submitted by artists of any generation, Italian or resident in Italy upon invitation by Nctm through open call. The selected works will be acquired by Nctm for a contribution, disbursed as consideration for the acquisition of each selected work, equal in the aggregate (for all selected works) to the sum of 75,000 euros, inclusive of all tax charges. Artists will be asked to submit a proposal for an original work in the process of conception, production or recent realization. The allocation of funds against the acquisition of the work will be decided by Nctm on the basis of criteria of relevance of the work and the artist’s path, or artists on the basis of the enhancement of the work proposed by the artist at the time of participation in the call and submission of the work. Once the selection and acquisition period is over, the assigned works that have been transferred to Nctm will become part of the collection of nctm and larte and will be presented to the public in a manner to be determined.

Eligible for selection are visual artists from Italy or residing in Italy, of any generation, with an already attested path in the field of contemporary art. An international artistic profile will be particularly appreciated. The work must develop the theme outlined in the previous paragraph. All chosen works must be made no later than October 2021. One can apply until 11:59 p.m. on July 30, 2021 by sending an email to nctmelarte@nctm.it. Participating artists will be notified of the results of the call for submissions and their proposals for acquisition by Nctm by August 6.

The artists will be chosen by a commission composed of: Gabi Scardi, artistic director of nctm and larte; Adrian Paci, artist; Matteo Lucchetti, curator Visible project (Cittadellarte-Fondazione Pistoletto/Fondazione Zegna) and independent curator. Members of the Arte Next Generation Nctm Committee (Ottavia Dalla Fior, Francesco Granata, Verdiana Maria Spreafico, Anastasia Zandri) will participate in the evaluation sessions.

For all information you can see the call for papers in detail on the nctm and art website.

A 75,000 call for artists, on the theme of Covid's pandemic and current events

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