From February 10 to February 12, CREARE moved under the shadow of the volcano!
In collaboration with ABADIR Fine Arts Academy in Catania, The Centre for Research in Arts and Economics organized an intensive workshop about the art market. Acknowledging the characteristics of the art world and art markets and the difficulties of stakeholders to grasp them, this course aimed to address and illustrate these specific features using a cultural economic perspective.
The objective was to stimulate an understanding of the art market that could be useful for the various stakeholders involved (artists, galleries, collectors, public decision makers). The course focused on the Italian case, but it provided international examples to participants who found interesting to get a different perspective and know about cases and best practices from which they could learn.
For the first time we tested the use of web conference for Arjo and Lyudmila’s interventions. The other faculty members were Italian and their role was to define the current state of the art sector in Italy, with special attention to the South of the country. In fact, one of the objectives of this first program was to cover as much as possible the physical distance that often limits the choices and chances of local stakeholders.
Participants formed a heterogeneous group made of students of local Art Academies; practitioners working in contemporary art museums and foundations, or writing for art journals; and freelance curators. They brought their experiences and questions to the course providing interesting examples to reflect on.
The picture that resulted from these two days and a half of intensive conversation was quite different compared to other European countries. The timing of this encounter was also rather special as an intense debate is going on following the closing down of the only ‘regional’ (i.e. national) museum of contemporary art in Sicily and the threat of closure for the other main museum in South of Italy which is located in Naples.