“Caravan residency program: Thinking with Alexandria”, at Cittadellarte the start of a residency about culture, cooperation and planning From 20 February to 3 March, Cittadellarte hosted the Caravan Residency Program, a new stage of the project "Alexandria: (re)activation of common urban imaginaries", conceived and implemented by UNIDEE Residency Programs, curated together with Edwin Nasr in conversation with Sarah Rifky and supported by the European Union's Creative Europe programme. From the context of Biella and Fondazione Pistoletto, the 16 international participants and the 5 social entrepreneurs worked together to compose, redesign and play with existing parts and elements that structure everyday life through a peripatetic format, with reference to Alexandria and other European and Mediterranean cities. Luca Deias, 22/03/2022 Read more
Embedded art practice and the future of Biella The last weekly module of last year’s UNIDEE Residency in partnership with Fondazione Zegna was held in December 2021, and saw a group of artists explore the present and imagine the future of tourism in Biella, Oasi Zegna and the “wool” province. In order to give shape to this process, the participants entered into conversation with numerous experts on the themes addressed during the residency: artists from Cittadellarte, the staff of Fondazione Zegna, a hiking guide, a basket maker, a brewer and an expert in wild herbs. The programme of the module also led to an immersive experience around the natural elements of the territory, such as the water of the rivers, the beech trees of the Oasi Zegna, the “carabo d'Olimpia” (a type of beetle) and the snow. Luca Deias, 22/02/2022 Read more
“UNIDEE LABS 2021/2022”, when socially engaged art transcends the boundaires of the pandemic Last November, Fondazione Pistoletto hosted a new type of UNIDEE module: for the occasion the participating artists shared and carried out new investigations into their artistic practice under the guidance of a team of international mentors, interfacing with the context of Cittadellarte and the Biellese wool territory in a multi-level process of decontextualisation. Through seminars, meetings, guided tours, collective and individual explorations, the residents delved into the new relations between pandemic and socially engaged art, each with their own creative approach and with the contaminations offered by the organised activities, identifying new methodologies and tools applicable to their own research projects. The labs 'Artwork as Toolkit' and 'Tools for the Commons' will be launched in March 2022. Luca Deias, 11/02/2022 Read more
At Cittadellarte the residency following the open call “Artivism”, when art and sustainable fashion inspire social activism Monday 1st to Saturday 6th November) for the ten artists/fashion designers selected through the call to action promoted by Fashion Revolution Italia and Cittadellarte. The participants – whose projects expressed a visionary and inspirational creativity – met with professionals and organisations from the sector, immersing themselves in the context of Fondazione Pistoletto and the wool territory. Luca Deias, 17/11/2021 Read more
European and Mediterranean cooperation, the launch of the project “Alexandria: (re)activating common urban imaginaries” The initiative, running from 1st November 2020 to 31st December 2023, aims at shedding light on the heritage of the Mediterranean city through the development of new cultural and artistic perspectives. The project, supported by the European Union's Creative Europe programme, includes, among other actions, the “Caravan residency program: Thinking with Alexandria”, conceived and realised at Cittadellarte by UNIDEE Residency Programs, and curated together with Edwin Nasr and in conversation with Sarah Rifky. The call is now open: here’s how to apply. Redazione, 13/05/2021 Read more
Rossella Ravagli will direct the three-year higher education course in Sustainable Fashion for Accademia Unidee in Biella Rossella Ravagli will be the new director of the course in Sustainable Fashion of Accademia Unidee, which consists in the synthesis and in-depth study of the creative processes of Art and Fashion, together with the values of Participation, Responsibility and Sustainability. “I am honoured and enthusiastic to collaborate with Fondazione Pistoletto and Accademia Unidee, with which I share the values and contents of the common mission to pursue”. Redazione, 14/04/2021 Read more
“Travelling Colour Book Project”, when art reduces distances in time of pandemic Camila Aguais, a participant in the programme “Embedded Arts Practice in a Post-Pandemic Future”, proposed by UNIDEE residency programs, has won the Production Prize offered by illycaffè, which will fund her project. We have interviewed the teacher and curator to have a testimony of her experience as a resident at Cittadellarte and to find out the specifics of her artistic initiative. Luca Deias, 09/04/2021 Read more
Let Eat Bi, food and sustainability: interview with Rimvydė Muzikevičiūtė The Lithuanian student is developing policy advice as part of a research internship required for her to obtain a degree in cultural leadership from a Dutch university. Her project focuses on Let Eat Bi and aims at evaluating and emphasising the relationship between culture, food, art and sustainability. Rimvydė talked to us about her experience at Fondazione Pistoletto, anticipating some of the contents of her work. Luca Deias, 24/02/2021 Read more
