MiBACT, starts IX Italian Council, call for contemporary artists and curators. How to participate

The ninth edition of the Italian Council call for proposals, the program for the support, promotion and enhancement of Italian contemporary art in the world, promoted by the Directorate General for Contemporary Creativity (DGCC) of the Ministry of Cultural Heritage and Activities and Tourism, has started. This edition includes an allocation of two million euros and some new features, namely a greater focus on supporting the research and practices of artists, curators and curators, including through the provision of scholarships.

Three, in particular, are the areas of intervention on which the new call operates, divided into eight actions. The first area strictly concerns contemporary artists and is the ’augmentation of the collections of Italian public museums, through the support of projects involving the production of one or more works by a living Italian artist or the acquisition of a work made in the last 50 years in the collections of Italian state, regional, provincial and civic museums. Each project must include a phase of presentation of the work abroad, through exhibitions, presentations or talks in public or private nonprofit institutions active in the field of contemporary art.

The second area concerns the international promotion of Italian artists, curators, and critics, through the support of proposals for monographic exhibition projects at international institutions and the participation of artists in international events that may include, for example, biennials, triennials, festivals, or high-prestige group shows. New features of the call include support for critics or curators invited as guest curators of international exhibitions or reviews. Finally, international publishing projects to enhance and promote internationally the visual culture, art and art criticism of Italian art of the last fifty years will also be eligible for funding.

Finally, third and last area is the development of talents, with the contribution for residencies abroad at accredited institutions aimed at activities to deepen research and artistic, critical or curatorial practice. Also connected with this last aspect, the new call also makes available annual grants that support pure artistic, critical and curatorial research.

The application can be submitted by museums, public and private cultural institutions, university institutes, foundations, cultural associations, formally constituted committees and any other entity, as long as it is non-profit. Where expressly provided for in the call, the application will be directly submitted by artists, curators and critics. The deadline for applications is 4 p.m. on Sept. 30, 2020, and applications should be received at italiancouncil.application@beniculturali.it, following the directions on the Directorate General’s website. For more information, you can write to italiancouncil@beniculturali.it by Sept. 10, 2020, or go to the appropriate page on the MiBACT website.

“Contemporary art, as well as other sectors of the world of culture,” says Minister Dario Franceschini, “is going through a moment of great difficulty due to the health emergency. The ninth edition of Italian Council confirms, in this particular moment, a project more appropriate than ever to support and promote young talent and contemporary Italian creativity.”

“The new edition of the call,” says Margherita Guccione, Director General Contemporary Creativity of MiBACT, “was born on the basis of reflections generated by the current emergency situation and, at the same time, by the need to make this valuable tool even more inclusive. As always, the Italian Council intends to promote and enhance, in Italy and abroad, artists, curators, critics and young talents, in line with similar international programs. Fundamental in the past few months has been the dialogue, which still remains open, with the Forum of Italian Contemporary Art and with the entire contemporary art supply chain, useful to strengthen the lines of action of the call, which, as a whole, intends to support Italian artistic, critical and curatorial research with greater incisiveness.”

Pictured: the Collegio Romano, headquarters of MiBACT

MiBACT, starts IX Italian Council, call for contemporary artists and curators. How to participate

Warning: the translation into English of the original Italian article was created using automatic tools. We undertake to review all articles, but we do not guarantee the total absence of inaccuracies in the translation due to the program. You can find the original by clicking on the ITA button. If you find any mistake,please contact us.