art and (de)colony

art and (de)colony. art, curating, critical practices in contemporary times                     

2016 cocoa project international art and curating workshop

live and internet | conzano (al) italy    14 | 15 may

art, curating and critiquing practices today take place in a world where postcolonial – neocolonial – globalized categories are still present and playing roles that puzzle as well as challenge us.

this state of things generates affiliations and relationships between art and curating, art and critique, art and power, art and markets which are at times new, at times rather trite and well-trodden. these new and not as new dynamics may be ignored or dealt with.

cocoaa project invites artists, curators, art collectors, scholars and all interested art industry players to participate into a bold, collective reflection, simultaneously live and online, to explore multiple visions of contemporary and modern art, to investigate new ways to curate and critique today in what is an extremely varied art world. cocoaa project proposes to develop and launch a manifesto for attaining decolonized art curatorial and critical practices.

for this reason cocoaa project proposes to explore the relevance to the art world of notions of posthuman in rosi braidotti’s sense where rather than seeing the post-human condition as a crisis or a loss, braidotti debates that it is an opening and a challenge for new ethical and social forms of bonding. with braidotti and glissant cocoaa project banks on the creolization of languages therefore proposes as a workshop methodology distance as well as freedom in the relationship with current art language through processes of hybridation that incorporate artist and critical practices. with braidotti we recognize that the nomadic is a navigational tool, not a concept. therefore, discussing dialogical and critical collaborations between artists and curators, contributing to decolonizing critical language and curating will be unavoidable questions as critics / curators of various backgrounds collaborate with artists from various cultures.

such practices in fact require a balanced perspective, not only a recognition of backgrounds but reacquainting with diverse epistemologies, cultural realities. at times current curatorial practices expose a reluctance to engage with a lingering essentialist nostalgia. at the same time for example, the dilemma exists when curating and critiquing some indigenous art of particular historic significance where not only a cultural mandate by indigenous people should be sought but a determination to produce events where a new experience of art and artifacts can be performed. anyone who plays in today’s art fields side by side with so many other players who can come from anywhere in the world will face these interrogatives and we would like to open the way and celebrate a new start in new directions.

2016 cocoa project  workshop  sat 14 | sun 15 may 2015      hrs : 10 – 17   

registration every day at 10 villa vidua, piazza australia 5, conzano (al) italy –

all proceedings will be live and online via the fuze platform www.fuze.com   

credits image: wetseason clouds, (2003) kevin shaw from the mates series, courtesy of artegiro contemporary art.

invited guest speakers present and online

emma barrow, postgraduate indigenous research, college of design & social context, rmit, melbourne, australia

maree clarke, artist, curator, melbourne, australia

shafiqul kabir chandan, artist ( bangladesh, milan)

fran edmonds, research unit in public cultures, the university of melbourne, australia

an paenysen, critic, curator, berlin, germany

qarm qart, artist, author, translator, cairo, egypt

roberta trapé, author and researcher, milan, italy

where

the workshop will take place in the wonderful 1800’s restored villa, villa vidua, in piazza australia, 5, in conzano (al), in the monferrato region in piedmont, north west of italy (map: http://www.comune.conzano.al.it) .

the villa has two conference areas on the middle floors, whilst on the ground floor there is a number of large spaces equipped for exhibitions where during the workshop there will be an exhibition by…..

the city council of conzano and artegiro project have recently established an annual program of contemporary art and curatorial events , the cocoaa project ( conzano contemporary art artegiro project).

one of the two important reasons why the cocoaa project has come about is to give international artists, art critics and curators an annual opportunity to work and reflect with a firm gaze on collaborations, decolonizing curatorial practices and publishing the outcomes of these collaborations and reflections.

the workshop this year takes place over the weekend sat 14 | sun 15 may 2015 between the hrs: 10 – 17  

registration will be in the villa vidua foyer every day at 10.

address:  villa vidua, piazza australia 5, conzano ( al) italy 

 cost:          

for proceedings only euro 45  ; for accommodation and workshop: depending on accommodation from euro 200 min for three nights.

please contact us by april 30 via email:          cocoaaproject@gmail.com or at artegiro@artegiro.com

in order to participate online please download the free fuze platform at: http://www.fuze.com