Among the educational projects conceived by Fondazione Pastificio Cerere, there are residences for young artists and curators.
6ARTISTA, project for young artists is a residency program aimed at young Italian artists, established by the Pastificio Cerere Foundation in 2009.
The project blossoms from the desire to make up for an obvious lack in the city of Rome, when compared to a great number of residencies for foreign artists, residency opportunities for Italian artists are much rarer. 6ARTISTA has been one of the first programmes to consider the chance for the new generation of Italian artists to reside in the Capital, while offering high level cultural training, its final goal being the artists’ introduction into the world of the arts. The experience of studying is surely enriched by the importance of the place in which it is carried out, namely Pastificio Cerere, an ex-pasta factory, where lives and artistic experiences deeply diverse and varied in nature have been lived and enjoyed.
Through an open call all artists between the age of 21 and 35, Italian or foreign with an Italian residency, who performed their training at establishments inside our national territory, are invited to participate. The candidates must bring a workbook and show the various artworks made during the last two years, accompanied by a presentation letter, their CV, a short presentation of their work (stating the reasons why they decided to join the project) and finally by a research proposal to be realized during the residency.
The two winners will be guests in a study inside Pastificio Cerere and will endure a training period (from 3 to 6 months) characterized by comparative moments (comparisons) with (the system of) contemporary art and a support role in the production of new works of art. 6ARTISTA plans to recover the overall atmosphere of what has historically always been the identity of the former pasta factory: one of the most welcoming places, regarding production and diffusion of contemporary art; an environment where the youth, with its strong creative potential, can develop and enrich their own artistic path. The final project of the residency is presented to the public in an exhibition.
Since the second edition of the award, the internationalization of the residencies and the activation (introduction) of partnerships with cultural institutions that deal with the cultural education and promotion, has allowed the winners to carry out part of the residency abroad.
The intent is to build, in time, a solid institutional network so as to allow young artists partaking in future editions of this programme to have a chance to enjoy an increasingly qualified and complete opportunity to successfully perform their research and tasks.
The award has become an important tool for the appreciation of the Italian talents on an international scale. The winners of the past editions, in fact, have been successful in being included in the international professional environment thanks to the collaboration of the scientific committee, the vast expositive programme, and the efforts by the partners of the project.
Here are some of the winners of the 6ARTISTA Award: Riccardo Benassi, Tomaso De Luca (I edition); Adelita Husni-Bey, Elisa Strinna (II edition); Francesco Fonassi, Margherita Moscardini (III edition); Davide Stucchi, Helena Hladilová (IV edition); Thomas Berra, Corinna Gosmaro (V edition).
The prize has been introduced by the Pastificio Cerere Foundation, promoted together with the Civita Association and supported by Allianz (for the first three editions), Roma Foundation and Camera di Commercio (for the IV edition), by SIAE Sillumina – Private copy for the young; for culture (for the V edition). Thanks to the collaboration with the Incontri Internazionali d’Arte di Roma, from the II to the IV edition, the residency has also provided a stay in Paris by the Citè Internationale des arts. During the fifth edition, a three-month stay in the German city of Frisinga has been requested, thanks to the involvement of the Schafhof – European House of Art Upper Bavaria that has in turn chosen the artists Elke Dreier and Analia Martinez for the Artist in residence project (Transfer>Rome), an exchange programme thanks to which they’ve have the chance to spend three months inside the Pastificio Cerere residency.
The 6ARTISTA Award features a partnership with MACRO – Rome Contemporary Art Museum, that has hosted the end of the residency exhibitions of the first four editions.
From 2011 to 2013, thanks to the project Curatore in residenza, a young curator, appointed as such by the artistic director, is invited to realize a cultural path for the Foundation. The residency, lasting one year, includes the organization of site specific exhibitions and projects, studio visits, and conference rounds as well as the production of critical essays, monographs, catalogues.
Vincenzo De Bellis (2011), Michele D’Aurizio (2012), Alessandro Dandini de Sylva (2013) have all been residency curators.
