“Promoting and supporting young artists is a fundamental part of Lo schermo dell’arte’s mission. We feel compelled to respond to this terrible crisis by offering an alternative production model that can provide artists with immediate, concrete resources. This fund is meant to restart projects that have been put on hold due to the emergency, giving artists a heartening prospect to work towards.”
Leonardo Bigazzi, curator, Artists’ Film Italia Recovery Fund and Lo schermo dell’arte
Italy is one of the countries worst affected by the COVID-19 pandemic, and its cultural sector is in a state of emergency. And while many public and private initiatives have been springing up in other European countries to offer financial assistance to artists, Italy has yet to take action.
Art is a cornerstone of our identity, an essential record of the present, and a vital part of our economy. With their special way of looking at the world, artists have always helped us grasp the most complex moments in human experience. In these months of isolation, their work has been a comfort to many of us. It has become clear that we may be able to survive without art, but we can’t really live. Because art nourishes the soul.
To respond to the grave difficulties and lack of support that the sector is facing right now, Lo schermo dell’arte, a non-profit cultural association that explores the relations between film and contemporary art, is launching a fundraising campaign and organizing a network of individuals and institutions to help produce original video works by young artists who are citizens or residents of Italy. One limited-edition copy of each of the videos produced through this campaign will be donated to the permanent collection of GAMeC – Galleria d’Arte Moderna e Contemporanea in Bergamo.
On 15 June 2020, at the end of the campaign, a public call will invite artists to submit proposals for an original video production. Precedence will be given to projects that have been put on hold because of the crisis, or ideas that have taken shape in these critical months and which explore the pressing issues of our time.
The entire sum raised by the campaign will be allocated to one or more of these artists, selected by a jury made up of: Leonardo Bigazzi, curator, Lo schermo dell’arte and Artists’ Film Italia Recovery Fund, Lucrezia Calabrò Visconti, independent curator, Sarah Cosulich, artistic director, La Quadriennale di Roma, Lorenzo Giusti, director, GAMeC-Bergamo, Andrea Lissoni, artistic director, Haus Der Kunst, Munich.
The minimum budget allocated to each production will be €5,000, up to a maximum of €10,000, including the artist’s fee. The jury will decide how much to award based on the available funds and the financial needs of each proposal.
The winning works will be presented at the Schermo dell’arte Film Festival in 2021 and at Italian and international art institutions and festivals. One limited-edition copy of each of the videos produced through this campaign will be donated to the permanent collection of GAMeC – Galleria d’Arte Moderna e Contemporanea, Bergamo. This decision will not only add to Italy’s public cultural heritage, but will support a local institution in the part of the country that has been worst hit by the virus.
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