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Talk
Curatorial Practice: Silvia Simoncelli
20th January 2012, 4 pm
Talk at Kunstverein Zurich, Waescherei, 8004 Zurich.
WASTELANDS AND GOLD MINES – Urban development and art projects in the public space
The talk will present a series of art projects which have been on-going in recent years in the context of processes of urban re-development. In the view of local politicians these often represent useful tools for mediation and embellishment to be put in place during transitional times of reconstruction and recolonization of city areas by new dwellers. On the other hand, artists collaborating with local communities frequently devise art projects in the public space explicitly in order to resist top-down urban planning processes and their negative impact on the lives of those inhabitants who are confronted with radical changes in their environment and even threatened with eviction. Presenting opposite views on the role of art in the urban context, these different approaches rise questions on the function of art commissions in the public space and on the space for activism in the artistic practice.
Silvia Simoncelli is art historian and independent curator. She has a degree in Aesthetic from the Università degli Studi in Milan and completed her MAS in Curating at ZHdK, Zurich. She has currently a teaching position at Brera Art Academy in Milan and collaborates with some artists for projects in the public space in the USA and Italy.
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