The Bevilacqua La Masa Foundation opens its doors to illy sustainArt

The  illy sustainArt project, committed to promote and to enhance the art of the emerging countries, is once again enriched by a new initiative addressed to the artists and curators registered to the platform www.illysustainArt.org:  the chance to win a three-month residence study grant – from August through October 2013 – at the Bevilacqua la Masa Foundation in  Venice, an institution of the City Council, within a program of artist residences among the oldest in Europe, and one of the most important and coveted in Italy.

“illy sustainArt has been established in order to offer the art of the emerging countries new opportunities to be noticed and to meet the market, by extending to the contemporary art world the same approach to sustainability of illycaffè. Thanks to this project with the Bevilacqua La Masa Foundation, the project evolves and grows stronger by offering artists and curators the chance to attend a training course of excellence, an important launching pad for those people whose special merits will be rewarded”,  Carlo Bach, art director of illycaffè S.p.A, says.

While training, peer to peer relationships are always essential to an artist, especially in locations different from his/her own. The residence therefore may become a real opportunity to plunge in one’s own job in a different environment, in a world of new and strong motivations and inspirations. The whole idea of artist residence is based on this concept”, Angela Vettese, president of the Bevilacqua La Masa Foundation, said.

The residence study grant consists of a three-month program at the Bevilacqua La Masa Foundation, where the artist/curator will have the opportunity to work alongside other young grant holders and to attend the many events scheduled for the atelier guests. He/She will have a personal atelier at his/her disposal inside the compound of SS. Cosma and Damiano on the Giudecca Island (site of five BLM ateliers). There he/she will frequently receive studio visits that the Foundation organizes with reporters, critics, curators of the field, either independent or in representation of the major national and international institutions committed to young artists, such as the Palais de Tokyo (Paris), the Camden Arts Centre (London), and the Künstlerhaus Bethanien (Berlin). He/She will have the chance to exhibit his/her works to the general public on the occasion of the Artists’ Talks and the Open Studio days. He/She will stay at the guest quarters of Palazzo Carminati, and live in touch with other award-winner peers, and most of all they will take advantage of that environment, rich in inspirations and interpersonal relationships.

President of the jury is Michelangelo Pistoletto, prominent artist and art director of Cittadellarte-Fondazione Pistoletto. The jury members will be Angela Vettese, president of the Bevilacqua La Masa Foundation (Italy), the curators Meskerem Assegued (Ethiopia), Carlos Basualdo (Argentina), Suman Gopinath (India), Gerardo Mosquera (Cuba), Mariangela Mendez Prencke (Colombia), and Carlo Bach, art director of illycaffè.

How to participate
In order to participate in the selection process, the artist/curator should register to the website www.illySustainArt.org  by Friday,  March 8,  2013, open an account, log in and upload his/her works, by following step by step all the registration procedures.

The registration will close on Friday, March 8, 2013 at 11.59 p.m. UTC/GMT.

The jury’s decision is final and unappealable, and it will be announced in April 2013 on the website  www.illysustainArt.org.

The critical requisite for the artist/curator in order to register to the website is to be a resident in countries listed by the IMF as emerging and developing economies.

illy sustainArt
illy sustainArt has been launched in 2007 to expand illycaffè range of actions in contemporary art and to spread among the international art community its approach to sustainable growth. The core of the project is the website www.illysustainArt.org, a showcase open to the contemporary art world, which aims at becoming a reference point, a meeting place, a cultural exchange occasion for artists and curators coming from emerging countries. In this place they have the chance to show their works to famous celebrities in the global contemporary art panorama: Meskerem Assegued, Carlo Bach, Carlos Basualdo, Suman Gopinath, Gerardo Mosquera, Michelangelo Pistoletto, Mariangela Mendez Prencke, and Angela Vettese. The illy sustainArt Prize goes in this same direction: the company awards it to emerging artists selected on the occasion of significant international events, among which Arco Madrid, SP-Arte Sao Paulo, and Art Rotterdam.

Based in Trieste, Italy, illycaffè produces and markets a unique blend of espresso coffee under a single brand leader in quality. Over 6 million cups of illy espresso coffee are enjoyed every day. illy is sold in over 140 countries around the world and is available in more than 100,000 of the best restaurants and coffee bars. espressamente illy, the chain of franchised Italian-style coffee bars is now present in more than 30 countries and comprises 230 outlets. With the aim of spreading the coffee culture, illy has founded the Università del caffè, the centre of excellence offering theoretical and practical training on every aspect of coffee for coffee growers, coffee shops staff and enthusiasts. On a global level illycaffè employs about 800 people and has a consolidated turnover of €342 million. (2011 results)
illy buys green coffee directly from the growers of the highest quality Arabica through partnerships based on the mutual creation of value. The Trieste-based company fosters long-term collaborations with the world's best coffee growers - in Brazil, Central America, India, Africa and China - providing know-how and technology and offering above-market prices.

The Bevilacqua La Masa Foundation. The history of the Bevilacqua La Masa Foundation began more than a century ago, thank to the will of a munificent and farsighted woman who was ahead of her times and managed to anticipate the present goals and features of the Italian institutions devoted to enhance the work of debutant artists. In her oldest years and at the end of her life, mostly committed to support the  Italian people, Felicita Bevilacqua (1822-1899), widow of General La Masa, made up her  mind about  donating Ca’ Pesaro to the City of Venice, provided that the palace would help “young artists often banned from participating to major art exhibitions”.
In the past decade, BLM has hosted the works of 1200 artists and organized more than 218 art shows; over 50 catalogues, hundreds of posters, invitations, and brochures have been published.
The Bevilacqua La Masa Foundation program has three main goals:

- To organize exhibitions of living artists of international height, in order to provide the local territory with the great opportunity to get in touch with major international artists, and to become  part of a circuit of art centers famous all over the world, such as the Centre Pompidou of Paris, the Whitechapel Gallery, and other residence artist locations such as the Camdem Art Centre of  London and the Palais de Tokyo of  Paris.

- To implement activities dedicated to young artists such as the annual collective exhibition, now at its 96th edition; the study grant-giving to the most promising young artists; the annual exhibition of all grant holders;  and the allocation of 12 artist ateliers. And in addition, solo art exhibitions, collective art exhibitions with the works of young artists in collaboration with universities, academies, exhibition centers, and other institutions, both in Italy and abroad.

- To implement information and divulgation activities, such as Archivio Giovani, created in collaboration with the Viafarini Center of Milan, and the Contemporary Art Library. BLM has also edited many books, next to the historic institution archive. The Foundation organizes  seminars, workshops, meetings, and focus groups by directly involving artists, critics, and theorists well-known at international level.

Angela Vettese is president of the Bevilacqua La Masa Foundation since 2002, while Elisabetta Meneghel is BLM director.

For more information:
Anna Adriani/Christine Pascolo,illycaffè, Ph. +39 040/3890111

Press office Bevilacqua La Masa Foundation
Giorgia Gallina, Bevilacqua La Masa Foundation, press@bevilacqualamasa.it; Tel. +39 0415207797