Call for Application: The Place from Where We Look (Paris, June 24-27, 2015)
CALL FOR APPLICATION – THE PLACE FROM WHERE WE LOOK
A three-day work session at Kadist Art Foundation, Paris
June 24th – 27th, 2015
In the framework of COLLECTING MATTERS, a collaborative fellowship developed by Kadist Art Foundation (Paris), Nomas Foundation (Rome) and David Roberts Art Foundation (London)
ABOUT “COLLECTING MATTERS”:
The three Foundations wish to offer their collections as a research tool, to develop an exchange on notions of collection / collecting through an interdisciplinary curatorial fellowship. Each Foundation fosters a significant collection and shares a common interest in supporting the development of contemporary artistic and curatorial practices. This partnership between the three Foundations marks a collective commitment to encouraging new ways of thinking, sharing and producing knowledge about collections. Acknowledging that the structure and fundamental philosophy behind collecting contemporary art is constantly evolving, the focus of this fellowship will be placed upon research, as an elastic and flexible practice akin to the process of collecting.
Since 2012, through three episodes, COLLECTING MATTERS proposes a program providing young professionals (artists, curators, art historians) and students the opportunity to be part of a conversation in a professional setting and to exchange on notions of collection:
– In 2012, Nomas Foundation in Rome hosted a workshop dedicated to the question: How to exhibit a collection? After visiting and discussing some of the main historical art collections of the city, the participants were offered the opportunity to organize an event investigating such issues, using works belonging to the three collections of the Foundations. An exhibition/performance by the collective jugedamos (David Bernstein, Geraldine Longueville, Jurgis Pastrevicius coming from Sandberg Institute Fine Arts in Amsterdam) was selected among the proposals of the participants.
– In 2013, David Roberts Art Foundation hosted in London the second issue entitled The Harder You Look, taking the shape of a temporary institute and workshop, focused on the work of art itself, from its physicality to its representation and reading: How does the work engage the responsibility of the collector or of the institution taking care of it?
– In June 2015, Kadist will organize the third and last episode The Place from Where We Look [1], dedicated to reflections on collecting strategies in a global art world: How to look at an artwork in a globalized context?
INTRODUCTION
In this era of globalization, it is common knowledge that institutions and private collectors of modern and contemporary art in the West are paying serious attention to the acquisition and presentation of art from all over the world, each pursuing their own strategies.
Given the proliferation of internationally operating art institutions worldwide, how can we avoid the concentration of value in certain regions for a more balanced strategy based on exchanges and dialogue?
Pragmatic questions, arising from the experiences of Western institutions hosting artists in residency, to collectors observing the evolution of the art market, are to be addressed within a theoretical framework taking into account postcolonial discourses. Following from this, we seek to explore how the development of globalization comes to affect artistic production, its facilitation and the way we look at works of art.
Considering the act of collecting as the construction of histories, which histories need to be constructed today? Who constructs them and for whom?
The Place from Where We Look originates from a specific concern: if the place from where we look is contextualized, restricted by the social, ideological and cultural structures of a given society, how do we look at an art work in a globalized context? How may a collection of contemporary art be used to investigate and trigger new knowledge on such questions? In what ways could a collection embed multiple perspectives from which to look at?
SCHEDULE
Each day’s program is conceived by a different guest and will be punctuated by the presentation of artworks (mainly from the Kadist collection) considered as reflection tools.
The program will involve a group of 6 young international professionals – artists, curators, art historians – and students selected following this call.
Some professionals and students based in Paris will also be invited to attend the daily program.
Updates on the program will be regularly added on the Kadist website: www.kadist.org
DAILY PROGRAM (10am – 5pm)
– June 24 (Evening)
Welcome Event for the participants and Presentation.
– June 25
(Re)writing histories through the market: Through the proliferation of its forms and strategies, the market has become fluid and ubiquitous in the globalised framework, re-configuring alongside cultural and contextual factors the systems of value, naming and legitimating. What are the decisions that inform global art markets, canons, and values? How and where are these decisions made and critiqued? How do private collectors and public institutions position themselves? How does the market influence artistic practices, what are its demands in terms of production and signification? What circulation of value and meaning results from these operations?
with: Julia Morandeira Arrizabalaga
Julia Morandeira Arrizabalaga is an independent curator and researcher. She is founding member of Declinación Magnética, a research and production group exploring decolonial imaginaries and production strategies, and she is part of Península, a research group and platform at the Reina Sofia National Museum and Art Centre in Madrid. From 2011 to 2013, she was General Manager at LOOP Fair, Barcelona. In 2014-2015, Morandeira will be in a curatorial residency at Kadist, Paris.
– June 26
(Re)writing histories through collaborative practices/ institutionalizing networks: How could contemporary art collections be used to challenge or even reverse hegemonic structures of globalization?
with: Beirut (Cairo, Egypt)
Beirut is an art initiative and exhibition space in Cairo that considers institution building as a curatorial act. Their activities are centered on hosting artists, artworks, research projects and other institutions (locally, regionally, internationally) that wish to engage with similar questions concerning politics, economy, education, ecology and the arts. At this crucial time of transition in Egypt and the region, Beirut makes room to contemplate contemporary life from the position of art, and to provide a space of response.
Beirut’s curators will talk about their experience with the project A Guest Without A Host is A Ghost. Collection in Residence: a long-term loan (May 2014 to January 2015) of selected works from the Kadist collection. Beirut uses the collection as a tool to create programs, engaging new and diverse publics and involving local partners as various art institutions and collectors, but also in the context of The Imaginary School Program, an eight-month cross-disciplinary practice-based theory program they are designing for twelve participants in Cairo. More information here: http://beirutbeirut.org
7pm at Kadist: Public presentation by Beirut of the project A Guest Without A Host Is A Ghost. Collection in Residence.
– June 27
(Re)writing histories through transmission: How do we look forward? Can a collection – or more generally collecting – be considered as an archive from which we could decolonize knowledge and aesthetics? How is this issue raised by artists experimenting new ways of organizing, archiving, collecting or sharing knowledge in their practices? What could an interdisciplinary perspective bring to these questions?
An invited artist will conceive the program of this third day.
PRACTICAL INFORMATION
The Place from Where We Look will gather a core group of six participants, including young professionals – artists, curators, art historians – and students (MA degree or equivalent required).
– Accommodation will be provided and travel will be covered. The selected applicants may be asked to apply to additional funding for travel grants (as at embassies) with the support of Kadist.
– Participants will be required to make a report on each day’s session in order to compile a final text, which will result in a collective publication.
– Within the framework of the program, participants will be required to give a presentation of their particular field of research.
HOW TO APPLY
Please prepare a single pdf file, no larger than 5mb, containing:
– A statement: we would like to hear about your background, practice and current artistic preoccupations or research. What do you hope to gain from attending The Place from Where We Look, and what qualities and ideas can you bring? We are particularly interested in knowing how your project or research may relate to the framework of this work session. Please limit responses to 400 words.
– A CV
– A portfolio presenting your recent work (up to 10 pages)
The deadline for applications is November 30, 2014 and the address to send your pdf to is: elodie.royer@kadist.org
The selection of participants will be conducted by members from the three foundations: Emilie Villez & Elodie Royer (Kadist Art Foundation), Cecilia Canziani & Ilaria Gianni (Nomas Foundation), Vincent Honoré & Nicoletta Lambertucci (DRAF), as well as Mélanie Bouteloup & Virginie Bobin (director and associate curator at Bétonsalon, Paris) invited to join the jury.
Successful candidates will be notified mid-December.
For any questions, please contact Elodie Royer at Kadist Art Foundation: elodie.royer@kadist.org
[1] Inspired by the title of Eduardo Grüner’s book, El Sitio de la Mirada, ed. Norma, 2000.
OpenEdition vous propose de citer ce billet de la manière suivante :
fotota (13 novembre 2014). Call for Application: The Place from Where We Look (Paris, June 24-27, 2015). FOTOTA - Perspectives africaines en photographie. Consulté le 16 mai 2025 à l’adresse https://doi.org/10.58079/otgc