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Oct 01
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20 years of the School for Curatorial Studies Venice
Interview with Aurora Fonda of the School for Curatorial Studies Venice
by Alessandra Galletta
More than a school for curators, it is now a cultural institution frequented by young people from all over the world who want to participate in the art of exhibiting art. He turns twenty years old School for Curatorial Studies Venice founded by Aurora Fonda and Sandro Pignotti in 2004 in Venice with the aim of creating an open laboratory for the visual arts and for all professions related to contemporary art. The Summer School has also been active since 2015, bringing together participants from all over the world. We retraced 20 years of training with Aurora Fonda in this interview.
Since 2003 you have been the director of the AplusA gallery in Venice, and only a year later you had the idea of founding a curators’ school from scratch. Lack of available professional figures, or desire to implement a new teaching of contemporary art?
It can be said that this need was born in the field, in carrying out my role as director of the gallery, in particular since it is the official home of the Slovenian Pavilion on the occasion of the Biennale. When a gallery transforms into a national pavilion, interesting positions open up for interns, trainees and students who want to experience working in the field.
Offer them an opportunity to learn and have direct discussion with the hot topics of curation, exhibition design, communication…
The boys were all very active, proactive and willing, and complained about the fact that their university studies did not include the practical experiences that would certainly have complemented the theoretical lessons. I felt the sense of their lack, and I thought about how to contribute to the training of future international curators. The more contemporary art can count on trained spokespersons, the stronger and clearer its message will arrive.
Where did you start?
Once I realized that in 2004 there were no real courses for curators in Italy – with the exception of a small one in Florence – and that no public institution was offering them, I thought that structuring a real curator course should be born in the private sector.
We started with a first three-week edition which was immediately a great success. The participation was so numerous that we immediately organized a second edition and since then the number of students has always grown.
What aspects of curating do you pay most attention to, what are your privileged experiences?
Already from the first edition of the course it was clear to me that the children not only did not foresee a direct relationship with the artists, but they struggled to find a way of relating with them, because they were unfamiliar with artist studies and consequently with their practice. For my training, however, this is a fundamental aspect, both for the profession of curator and for personal enrichment.
So it can be said that the first supporters of the school were the artists themselves?
Not only that, even later. We started inviting artists and organizing a full calendar of visits to their studios; in this way the program was lengthened from time to time, as we added lessons, meetings, workshops… Fueling the activities in direct collaboration with the artists has definitely made our school grow.
Has the demand from foreign students also grown over time?
Yes, a lot, and to deal with this demand in a more structured way, since 2015 we have activated the Summer school, a program in English aimed at international students which brings together people from all parts of the world. While with the pandemic we began to offer online courses, which instead of limiting moments of dialogue, discussion and discussion on topics, have contributed to strengthening that sense of community, where everyone feels part of a project.
Another strong point of the school is that a lot of theory is studied… but at a certain point it must be put into practice
After understanding the complex concept of “exhibition”, thanks to the fundamental contribution of the teachers, students are asked to discuss and develop the creation of an exhibition concept. Once the methods and motivations have been approved – expressed in a project already developed at a professional level – we proceed with the choice of the artists, the selection of the works and all the organizational phases are gradually carried out, from transport and insurance up to the preparation of the exhibition and its correct communication.
(continued on webpage)
Also see:
https://www.linkedin.com/in/aurora-fonda-20965821
https://www.curatorialstudiesveniceonline.com/the-tutors-i-docenti/aurora-fonda
