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Young Curators Residency Programme
Every year since 2007 Fondazione Sandretto Re Rebaudengo promotes the Young Curators Residency Programme Torino. The project aims to support emerging curatorial practice while spreading knowledge of the Italian art scene on an international level.
Young Curators Residency Programme 2016 Coordinated by Lorenzo Balbi
Fondazione Sandretto Re Rebaudengo, Turin, Italy May 14 – October 16, 2016
Passo Dopo Passo
Passo Dopo Passo seeks to examine diverse – both historical and contemporary – artworks and artistic practices that reflect on the status of movement, openness and enclosure, fear and expectations. The exhibition is linked to an Italian perspective – that of a country with an intrinsic relationship to questions of migration. From a historical point of view, the Mediterranean peninsula has been shaped by violent invasions, followed by waves of emigration and immigration, leading to a complex dynamics of different identities and diverging ideologies.
Shifting ahead to the sixties, seventies, and eighties, works by Carla Accardi, Luigi Ontani, and Salvo represent a later generation of Italian artists. Their practices each reveal diverging conceptions of and reactions to reality, but share a common aesthetic vibrancy, and even playfulness. In their work, we see the conceptualization of alternate realities and social spaces. For instance, Salvo’s collection of drawings on stationary paper from different hotels resonates with his research on the Mediterranean landscape as both a place of idealization and refuge, while simultaneously recording the artist’s own movement.
Stepping forward into contemporary practices, the work of Vanessa Alessi, Elisa Caldana, Collettivo Fernweh, Nicolò Degiorgis, Cady Noland, and Turi Rapisarda illustrates a continuation of these themes and furthers the engagement with social space, movement and locality. In relation to issues of migration, the vision of horizon plays a central role. The view of the ocean or the mountains in paintings, photographs, and videos, is a visual symbol rich with cultural connotations, revealing the hopes, projected by the individual and society, as well as the limits. Our perspective is denied by what we cannot see – expectations are subverted or never realized. Such a sense of beyond, often representing a desired future, is fraught with illusion and uncertainty. Although not immediately visible in the works, the depiction of the landscape shifts from idealized to clinical and generic portrayals.
Other works, such as Cady Noland’s Corral Gates (1989) or Vanessa Alessi’s W-HOLE (2014–ongoing), point to the constructed limitations and borders of space. The site of the exhibition is demarcated by Alessi’s transparent flag. Fixed atop the roof of the institution, W-HOLE (2014–ongoing) presents the attempt to delineate space while evoking personal and spatial identities.
Drawn from the collection at FSRR, Cady Noland’s installation entitled Corral Gates underscores the architectural mediation of space and of the body. The viewer encounters the scene and must pass through metal gates, those typically used to confine livestock. Bullets and a bridle are slung over the partially opened gate, suggesting violence that has occurred or is about to. Has the victim been subjected to this particular violence or have they just escaped perhaps? Noland’s installation harkens back to Depero, and his optimistic journey to New York, documented in the diaristic traces and doodles, a sort of concrete poetry, of his 1931 manuscript, New York Film Vissuto: Primo Libro Sonoro. Noland’s Corral Gates echo the disillusionment that Depero eventually found with New York, ultimately precipitating his shift to and embrace of fascism.
While the exhibition is not presented chronologically, it instead presents the objects in their autonomy and reflects, in part, our brief passage, as three curatorial residents at the Fondazione Sandretto Re Rebaudengo, through Italy.
Curators
Tenzing Barshee
Tenzing Barshee (Basel, 1983) is a writer and curator. Until recently he organised exhibitions at wellwellwell, a non-profit gallery funded by the Applied Art University, Vienna. Before that he worked as an associate curator at Kunsthalle Bern. He co-founded the temporary exhibition and event space Elaine at the Museum für Gegenwartskunst, Basel. His last monographic exhibitions he organised with Rochelle Feinstein (Centre d’Art Genève, Switzerland – with Fabrice Stroun), Margaret Honda (Triangle France, Marseille, France) and Shirana Shahbazi (Kunsthalle Bern – with Fabrice Stroun). He is a regular contributor to Starship magazine and one of the editors of Wandering magazine.
Molly Everett
Molly Everett is Associate Director, Artist Relations at David Kordansky Gallery in Los Angeles, where she works closely with artists on exhibitions, institutional partnerships, public commissions, and long-term career development. Previously, Everett served as Assistant Curator at the Moody Center for the Arts at Rice University, where she organized exhibitions and public programs and supported new acquisitions and site-specific commissions for the Rice Public Art Collection. Before joining the Moody, she was Curatorial Assistant in the Modern and Contemporary Art Department at the Menil Collection in Houston. Earlier in her career, she worked with the LUMA Foundation on exhibitions and artist projects in New York, Arles, and Zurich, and participated in the Whitney Independent Study Program. She studied art history at the University of California, Berkeley, and Hunter College, City University of New York.
Dorota Michalska
Dorota Michalska (Warsaw, 1988) is a curator and art historian based in Warsaw and Stockholm whose practice focuses on the political dimension of contemporary art. She worked at the Museum of Modern Art, Warsaw, from 2012 to 2015 as an assistant curator focusing on polish films from the 60’ and 70’. In 2015 Michalska completed CuratorLab, a nine months curatorial research fellowship at Konstfack University of Arts, Crafts and Design in Stockholm, led by Joanna Warsza. Her last project include a film screening Extremely Loud, Incredibly Close (SALT Beyoglu, Istanbul, 2014) and a group exhibition Through a Glass, Lightly (Tensta konsthall, Stockholm, 2015). She is a contributor to several polish art magazine such as Obieg, Szum and Dialog. Michalska was resident of the Curatorial Program for Research: Eastern and Northern Europe in October 2015. Currently she is working on an exhibition project on queer archives in the former Eastern bloc before 1989.
Coordinator
Lorenzo Balbi
Lorenzo Balbi (Turin, 1982) is the current Director of the Verona Museums. He graduated from Ca’ Foscari University, Venice with a BA in Fine Arts and Preservation of Cultural Heritage and from the University of Turin with an MA in Contemporary Art History. He was artistic director at Verso Artecontemporanea Gallery, Turin, an exhibition space devoted to research on emerging artists from South-East Asia. He was part of the board of Nesxt, Independent Art Festival, curator of the Live Program for DAMA, the new experimental fair for emerging international galleries, and curator of the Pomilio Blumm Prize, a prize for contemporary artists promoted in collaboration with Magnolia and Sky Arte HD. From 2006 to 2017 at the Sandretto Re Rebaudengo Foundation in Turin, he taught Curatorial Methodology at CAMPO, a course for curators, and was involved in the organization and development of exhibition projects in the institution’s spaces in Turin and Guarene d’Alba, as well as the exhibition programs of the Sandretto Re Rebaudengo Collection abroad. He followed the project Residency for Young Foreign Curators as assistant curator in 2009 (coordinator Ilaria Bonacossa), in 2011 and 2012 (coordinator Stefano Collicelli Cagol), until becoming the coordinator for three editions from 2015 to 2017. In 2018, he assumed the artistic direction of ART CITY Bologna, a series of exhibition events in the city promoted on the occasion of Arte Fiera. Professor of Art Systems at the DAMS of the University of Bologna, he is a member of the board of directors of AMACI – Association of Italian Contemporary Art Museums and of the coordination of the Italian Contemporary Art Forum. From 2017 to 2026, he was the artistic director of MAMbo – Museum of Modern Art of Bologna and he took on the role of Head of the Modern and Contemporary Art Department of the Bologna Museums Institution, to which he is attached, in addition to MAMbo, Villa delle Rose, Museo Morandi, Casa Morandi, Museo per la Memoria di Ustica and Residenza per artisti Sandra Natali. His texts and articles were published by several publications and magazines, including: Il Giornale dell’Arte, Inside Art, Artribune, Mousse, La Stampa, Exibart, ATP Diary, Il Giornale dell’Architettura.
Artists
- Carla Accardi
Carla Accardi was born in 1924, Trapani, Italy. She died in Rome in 2014.
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Rosso Giallo, 1968
Paint on Sicofoil, 139 x 69 cm
Courtesy private collection, Torino - Vanessa Alessi
The work of Vanessa Alessi moves along the edges of a Situationist and visionary practice, trying to reconstruct a dream by re-experiencing it in reverse. Born in Palermo, she is an architect (Politecnico di Milano) and set designer (AMU Prague). W-HOLE (Premio Terna 05, 2nd place) was selected within the Young Curator Residency Program of FSRR-Fondazione Sandretto Re Rebaudengo. Psychological Care of the Infant and Child, about ADHD and wartime childcare, was shown at Kreuzberg Pavillon in Berlin. Housing Models for a Difficult Life (2015-ongoing), a diary of micro-actions focused on public sleep, was selected for CAMPO final show at FSRR in 2019 (curated by Campo Base). TRANSUMANA won Fondazione Zegna’s award, with mentor Martino Gamper and curator Cecilia Guida. During her residency at Art House in Shkodra (founded by Adrian Paci) she got an Albanian pet passport becoming officially an Albanian stray dog. In 2024 changed her name into Vanessa Traum y Los Perros; Los Perros are those drawn into the dérive; Traum is German for “dream”. This investigation into dreams and encounters developed through projects like Luna VULGARIS, se il poeta dorme in piedi (Solo Show curated with Giusi Diana, BOCS, 2019) on the traces of poet Dylan Thomas; Radio Traum. Pandemic Dreams (2020); CrystalNet with C.E. Shanta (2024, Dolomiti Contemporanee); Indagini di un cane (Poggio Reale, 2024), centered on Franz Kafka’s dog; Infinite Jest, io sono la tua insonnia (ALL Palermo, Solo show curated with Ginevra Ludovici, 2025). Founder of the “ghost brand” TPF–The Philosophical Furniture (2023-ongoing), shown in different venues such as Spazio Fonte (Milano,2023), SUPERHOST (curated by Like A Little Disaster with Ferragosto Project). In 2024, W-HOLE and The Promise of Transparency were shown at Italian Embassy in Berlin.
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W-HOLE [Roof of Fondazione Sandretto Re Rebaudengo, Torino], 2016
Steel, transparent oliskin, 400 x 150 x 8 cm
Courtesy of the artist - Elisa Caldana
Elisa Caldana (1986, Pordenone) currently lives and works in Amsterdam, the Netherlands. She graduated from the Städelschule, Frankfurt (2010–2013), and from the IUAV University of Venice, Italy (2009–2011). Her work has been shown internationally, including at Madre, Naples (2026); MACTE, Termoli (2025); West, The Hague (2024); SIC, Helsinki (2024); MAXXI, Rome (2023); MAMbo, Bologna (2021); Whitechapel Gallery, London (2020); ROZENSTRAAT, Amsterdam (2020); Tokyo Arts and Space, Tokyo (2019); ar/ge Kunst, Bozen (2017); and Fondazione Sandretto Re Rebaudengo, Turin (2016, 2019), among others. Caldana was a resident at Vasl, Karachi (2023–2024); ROSE Residency, Bologna (2021); Jan van Eyck Academie, Maastricht (2020–2021); and TOKAS, Tokyo (2018). She has received support from the Mondriaan Fund (2022–2026), Italian Council (12th edition, 2023; 7th edition, 2019), nctm e l’arte (2018), and Hessische Kulturstiftung (2016–2017), among others. Her work is held in the permanent collections of MACTE, Termoli; MAMbo, Bologna; MAXXI, Rome; and Städelschule Portikus e.V., Frankfurt, among others. Her most recent publication is The Falcon of Karachi (Mousse Publishing, 2024).
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Cage for Migratory Bird, 2015
Painted iron
Courtesy of the artist![]()
The Island Behind the Horizon, 2015
Offset print on paper, 100 x 141 cm
Courtesy of the artist - Nicolò Degiorgis
Nicolò Degiorgis was born in 1985, Bolzano, Italy, where he lives and works.
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PEAK, 2015
Artist book, 90 photos, 16 x 24 cm, each
Courtesy of the artist and Rorhof, Bolzano, Italy - Fortunato Depero
Fortunato Depero was born in 1892, Fondo, Trento, Italy. He died in Rovereto, Trento, in 1960.
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Esercizi di lingua inglese, 1928-30
Ink on paper, 32 x 25 cm, each
Courtesy of Mart, Archivio del ‘900, fondo Depero![]()
Untitled [Letter from New York], 1928-30
Ink on paper, 34 x 20 cm
Courtesy private collection, Turin, Italy - Collettivo Fernweh
Collettivo Fernweh started its activity in 2015, Pordenone, Italy. The collective is composed by Mattia Balsamini -Pordenone, 1987-, Lucia Del Zotto -Pordenone, 1988- and Gabriella De Domenico -Pordenone, 1988-. They live and work in Pordenone and in Venezia, Italy.
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Elementi Utili, 2015
Hand made book, 96 pages, perfect bound with 8 stitched, plastic inserts, multiple formats with white uncoated paper, black uncoated paper with whit ink, gray uncoated paper, 17.5 x 23.5 cm
Courtesy of the artists - Luigi Ontani
Luigi Ontani was born in 1943, Vergato, Bologna, Italy. He lives and works in Roma.
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InveroSiMILE, 1999-2000
Wooden mask with paint, ceramic and mother of pearl, 60 x 30 x 20 cm
Courtesy of the artist - Turi Rapisarda
Turi Rapisarda was born in 1954, Catania, Italy. He lives and works in Torino.
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Auto da fé, 1996
Gelatin silver prints, 44 x 29 cm, each
Courtesy Fondazione Sandretto Re Rebaudengo, Turin, Italy - Salvo
Salvo was born in 1956, Leonforte, Enna, italy. He died in Torino, Italy in 2015.
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Untitled
15 drawings on hotel paper, various dimensions
Courtesy of Archivio Salvo, Turin, Italy
Jury
Pierre Bal-Blanc
Pierre Bal-Blanc is an independent curator and director of CAC Brétigny, Brétigny-sur-Orge (France). Since 2003, echoing the societal thought of Charles Fourier, he has run the Phalanstère Project, a series of site-specific proposals aiming at critical rethinking of the logic behind accumulation of art works. His exhibition sequences La monnaie vivante (The Living Currency) (CAC Brétigny / Micadanses, 2005–06; Stuk Leuven, 2007; Tate Modern London, 2008; MoMA Warsaw and Berlin Biennale, 2010) and Draft Score for an Exhibition (Le Plateau, Paris; Artissima, Torino, Italy; Secession, Vienna, 2011 – Index Stockholm, 2012; catalogue Draft Score for an Exhibition, NERO Publisher Rome, 2014) negotiate the current and historical analysis of the body and the strategies related to performance in visual arts. The three chapters of Reversibility (Frieze Art Fair, London, 2008; CAC Brétigny, 2010; Peep Hole, Milan, 2012 – catalogue Reversibility, Mousse Publishing, 2012) reflect on the consequences of the art object’s materiality upon the configuration of the cultural domain’s protagonists, as well as on the role and shape of the cultural institution today. The Death of the Audience (Secession, Vienna, 2010; catalogue Ver Sacrum: The Death of the Audience, Verlag Niggli AG Sulgen/Zurich, 2011) reveals the processes of emancipation and alienation taking place in the interstice between the figures of the artist and the spectator. He is currently preparing Soleil politique, an exhibition for Museion, Bolzano (Italy) that will continue his exploration of the forms and responsibilities of museums, their daily activities, and their relationship with the city. In January 2014, he contributed the foreword to the Center’s “Questions of Practice” investigation into restaging and reconstruction.
Beatrix Ruf
Beatrix Ruf (Germany, 1960) is currently the Artistic Director of the Stedelijk Museum Amsterdam, and she was appointed Director/Curator of the Kunsthalle Zürich in 2001. Previously, she had been Director/Curator of the Kunsthaus Glarus, and curator at the Kunstmuseum Thurgau, Warth (Switzerland) between 1994 and 1998. Since 1995 she has been Curator of the Ringier Collection. She has organised exhibitions, written essays and published catalogues on artists such as Jenny Holzer, Marina Abramovic, Peter Land, Liam Gillick, Urs Fischer, Emmanuelle Antille, Angela Bulloch, Ugo Rondinone, Richard Prince, Keith Tyson, Elmgreen & Dragset, Monica Bonvicini, Eija-Liisa Ahtila, Pierre Huyghe/Philippe Parreno: No Ghost just a Shell, Rodney Graham, Isa Genzken, Doug Aitken, Wilhelm Sasnal, de Rijke/de Rooij, Rebecca Warren, Carol Bove, Oliver Payne & Nick Relph, Dominique Gonzalez-Foerster, Sean Landers and many others. Among her last exhibitions, she curated the solo show Avery Singer, Pictures Punish Words, at Fondazione Sandretto Re Rebaudengo, Torino (Italy) in 2015.
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