Without - Collezionando Assenze

Without - Collezionando Assenze

Paola Bernardelli

Without - Collezionando Assenze

Paola Bernardelli

Paola Bernardelli’s one month artist residency in Rome was arranged in collaboration with and curated by Maria Rosa Sossai and Claudia Rampelli, co-curators at Accademia Libera delle Arti. The studio was provided by ISFCI School of Photography, courtesy Ottavio Celestino, and the resulting exhibition/performance took place in the courtyard of the School over a three days period.

In an improvised living room Paola heard the stories relative to personal objects that the public was invited to bring along with them, subsequently photographing each personal object with a Polaroid camera and exhibiting the photos. Later in the evening the stories were hand written on individual cards and, together with the Polaroids, formed an archive of memories as imperfect and precarious as memory itself. Choosing to use a Polaroid camera and relying on memory rather than a faithful recording for the transcription of the stories, emphasize the imperfection and impermanence of the mechanisms of memory itself, thus evoking a sense of loss and absence. The title references absence and also its externalisation.

This residency kick-started four collaborative exchange residencies between the two roman institutions and the Void Art School in Derry and was also the prelude to further international collaborations between Art Arcadia and artists and art institutions from Italy, Canada and the UK.

by Neil Doherty

Mourning Becomes Electra I

Mourning Becomes Electra I

Collaborative Artist Exchange

Mourning Becomes Electra I

Collaborative Artist Exchange

Mourning Becomes Electra l was the first instalment of a collaborative artists exchange programme that enabled young artists from Derry to take part in a career development experience in Rome, based on the comparison and dialogue between cultures and disciplines. The four young artists used diverse creative approaches, working in collaboration with four graduates from the Istituto Superiore di Fotografia e Comunicazione Integrata.
This programme was the result of a conversation between Art Arcadia’s Paola Bernardelli and Rome based curator Maria Rosa Sossai and was developed as a collaboration between Void Art School and ISFCI. Curated by ALA Accademia Libera delle Arti, a platform for contemporary art and education based in Rome, the programme successfully ran for two years, had four residencies and helped 19 young artists develop their professional career in an international context.

Artists:
Eamonn Brown | Claudio Cerasoli | Nicole Furlan | Carlo Lazzari | Eve Logue | Richard Magee | Emma Nicholas | Agnese Sbaffi

Photos by Agnese Sbaffi and Claudio Cerasoli

by Neil Doherty

Mourning Becomes Electra II

Mourning Becomes Electra II

Collaborative Artist Exchange

Mourning Becomes Electra II

Collaborative Artist Exchange

This was the second leg of Mourning Becomes Electra, following on from the previous collaborative residency exchange that had taken place in Rome. In this second instalment four young artists from Rome took part in a career development experience in Derry, continuing the dialogue previously initiated in Rome with the four local artists. The participants teamed up in order to explore diverse creative approaches to the theme suggested by curators Maria Rosa Sossai and Claudia Rampelli, using resources and support from the Void Art School.
During 2013 Derry was host to the UK City of Culture and the Italian graduates had the opportunity to visit major exhibitions and events and also to receive tailored talks from curator Gregory McCartney and artists Ackroyd & Harvey and Locky Morris.
The work resulting from Mourning Becomes Electra I & II was exhibited both in Rome and Derry, and for most of the participants this represented their first opportunity to take part in an international exhibition.

Artists:
Eamonn Brown | Claudio Cerasoli | Nicole Furlan | Carlo Lazzari | Eve Logue | Richard Magee | Emma Nicholas | Agnese Sbaffi

by Neil Doherty

Lay Devotions & Flawed Recollections

Paola Bernardelli

Lay Devotions & Flawed Recollections

Paola Bernardelli

LAY DEVOTIONS & FLAWED RECOLLECTIONS​

The Lewyc Institute of Contemporary Art is an experimental space situated in the home of Theo Sims. It presents site and context specific art within a domestic setting, offering an apartment and studio space in historic Point Douglas, just fifteen minutes from the Winnipeg’s downtown.

In 2014 Paola Bernardelli was the first artist to be invited to take part in a creative residency to research, produce and exhibit new work.

The end of project exhibition consisted of two installations; Lay Devotions was a multi part video and audio installation created during her time spent in Winnipeg as part of her residency with LICA and features a collaboration with Vincent Spina of Italia Barbers on Main Street. Flawed Recollections was the development of an installation previously conceived of in Derry and further developed during the residency, and involved multiple slide projectors presented in a site-specific context.

As part of the residency she also hosted a Salon Night at PLATFORM, presenting an artist talk and meeting fellow artists in Winnipeg. Many of the creative connections she developed with arts practitioners, funders and artists through this residency still form a significant role within her creative practice, and also over time came to constitute and important portion of Art Arcadia’s network.

by Neil Doherty

Theo Sims

Theo Sims

La Mola: Curatorial Residency

Theo Sims

La Mola: Curatorial Residency

In 2014 Paola Bernardelli invited artist and curator Theo Sims to carry out a research based residency in Italy and meet art practitioners in Rome for possible future collaborations with LICA (Lewyc Institute of Contemporary Art).

Whilst most residencies are geared towards artists, Art Arcadia also recognises the need to encourage mobility and discussion to wider creative practitioners such as curators, technicians and directors.

Sims also visited La Mola, in Pietrafitta, one of the Art Arcadia sites, researching the future possibility of creating a collaboration/exchange between artists in Western Canada and Central Italy.

Photos below by Theo Sims

by Neil Doherty