A bath of self-esteem Ferrara Residency 2017
Galleria del Carbone 27 September – 4 October 2017
Gate/Porta 28 September – 30 September 2017 Ferrara, Italy

A bath of self-esteem is the culmination of Ferrara Residency 2017, a one-month residency program for a group of international artists, which consists of one exhibition split between two art venues in Ferrara: Galleria del Carbone and Gate/Porta.

The theme of the first edition of Ferrara Residency, Who Cares?, originates from reflections on the role of artists and curators in today’s society, functioning within an art system that reproduces itself through increasing quantities of low-paid or unpaid work, which demands constant flexibility and is pervaded by a sense of precarity. Within this context, what does it mean to curate an artistic project and on how to do so, precisely, “with care”?

Our aim has been to reflect on the conditions of creative research and work, which require high emotional involvement and continuous attention and care towards the project and the people and communities involved in it. Throughout the residency program, we have thought together through themes such as intimacy, work, slowness, vulnerability, anxiety, and on the importance of processes of collaboration and modalities of working together.

In Galleria del Carbone we present different forms of process-based works which the artists have engaged in during the residency. Throughout, we have hosted various public and private events in Studio Carmelino: reading groups, an open projector night, discussions with local art and political practitioners, as well as building a residency library. The library which has been the starting point for our discussions, is exhibited within the gallery space and activated through a program of events, together with art works made during the residency.

Branching off from the research-based display in Galleria del Carbone, Gate/Porta hosts installations and a program of ephemeral, performative works. In response to the specificity of Gate/ Porta, the artists present works which have been influenced by the socio-political and historical context of the city of Ferrara. 

The artists were invited to participate in Ferrara Residency without the requirement to deliver a finished project and the works on show will include work-in-progress and unfinished pieces. This is due to the way in which we have responded to this year’s theme “Who Cares?” as a form of deceleration and care-taking within the context of art making and personal relationships.  Due to the structure of Ferrara Residency 2017, the program of activities in Galleria del Carbone are created during the exhibition period, in a manner similar to the way in which we worked during the residency. 

Participants
Henry Bradley, Joe Campbell, Irena Czepcova, Marianna Feher, Josefina Malmegård, Karolina Mikeskova, Bridie Gane, Athene Greig, Sandi Hudson-Francis, George Jepson, Lucie Kordacova, Tom Savery.