News
7th November, 2008
ILLYCAFFÈ AT ARTISSIMA 15
illy sustainArt Observatory:
the social network for artists, curators and art critics from emerging countries
Online starting from November 7th, www.illysustainArt.org: a showcase for contemporary art, intended to be a point of reference, a meeting place for cultural exchange dedicated to artists, curators and art critics from emerging countries.
"Ethics and beauty, illycaffè's two guiding principles, blend together in this project. By means of the illy sustainArt Observatory we hope to offer the art world of emerging countries a tangible tool for achieving visibility and exposure on the international market, by exploiting the capacity of the web, and in particular of social media, of creating connections and sharing which cancel all distances and reach beyond geographical borders" - said Carlo Bach, illycaffe's art director.
Thanks to this platform, the artists will be able to submit their work to critics and curators members of the network, who will have their own exhibition space in which to display the selected works in a virtual exhibition. Besides being visible to the members of the network, each exhibition will be "visited" and evaluated by a team of 6 exponents of the contemporary art world:
Meskerem Assegued – art critic and curator;
Carlo Bach – illycaffè art director;
Suman Gopinath – independent art critic and curator;
Mariangela Mendez Prencke – art critic and curator;
Michelangelo Pistoletto – one of the major artists in the international artistic scenario;
Angela Vettese – art critic, teacher at the IUAV and chairman of the Fondazione Bevilacqua La Masa.
Every two months the jury will select 10 exhibitions and 10 artists who will be given visibility in the public part of the website, accessible to all. In occurrence of major contemporary art events, the jury will also nominate an exhibition among all those created in the Observatory and will execute their realization off-line.
During Artissima, a preview of www.illysustainArt.org will be available at 8 pc stations in the Fair.
"Ethics and beauty, illycaffè's two guiding principles, blend together in this project. By means of the illy sustainArt Observatory we hope to offer the art world of emerging countries a tangible tool for achieving visibility and exposure on the international market, by exploiting the capacity of the web, and in particular of social media, of creating connections and sharing which cancel all distances and reach beyond geographical borders" - said Carlo Bach, illycaffe's art director.
Thanks to this platform, the artists will be able to submit their work to critics and curators members of the network, who will have their own exhibition space in which to display the selected works in a virtual exhibition. Besides being visible to the members of the network, each exhibition will be "visited" and evaluated by a team of 6 exponents of the contemporary art world:
Meskerem Assegued – art critic and curator;
Carlo Bach – illycaffè art director;
Suman Gopinath – independent art critic and curator;
Mariangela Mendez Prencke – art critic and curator;
Michelangelo Pistoletto – one of the major artists in the international artistic scenario;
Angela Vettese – art critic, teacher at the IUAV and chairman of the Fondazione Bevilacqua La Masa.
Every two months the jury will select 10 exhibitions and 10 artists who will be given visibility in the public part of the website, accessible to all. In occurrence of major contemporary art events, the jury will also nominate an exhibition among all those created in the Observatory and will execute their realization off-line.
During Artissima, a preview of www.illysustainArt.org will be available at 8 pc stations in the Fair.
illycaffè, sustainability and contemporary art
illy sustainArt Observatory is part of a broader illy SustainArt project created to deepen the company's involvement in contemporary art as launched at the 52nd International Art Exhibition in Venice. The aim is to extend the company's approach to sustainable growth to the international artistic community, offering opportunities for visibility and market exposure to all emerging artists from emerging countries, focusing on the coffee-producing countries from which illy buys coffee beans: in particular, Brazil, India, Colombia, Guatemala, Costa Rica and Ethiopia.
The first concrete step in this project was the collaboration initiated at the 52nd International Art Exhibition in Venice with the Italo-Latin American Institute, an international body commissioned by the Biennale since 1972 to organize the participation of Latin-American artists, with their own pavilion, in Venice's International Art Exhibitions.
Last November in Turin, in collaboration with Artissima, the international contemporary art fair, three curators Meskerem Assegued, Mariangela Mendez Prencke and Suman Gopinath– selected in collaboration with the Fair – were involved with the objective of launching and stimulating the creation of an art system in their countries.
This process continued in February in Madrid at ARCO, the international contemporary art fair, at which the company presented the illy SustainArt Prize, in the 2008 edition dedicated to promoting and supporting young artists from Brazil. In 2009, the second edition will focus on youn talents from India.
illy sustainArt Observatory is part of a broader illy SustainArt project created to deepen the company's involvement in contemporary art as launched at the 52nd International Art Exhibition in Venice. The aim is to extend the company's approach to sustainable growth to the international artistic community, offering opportunities for visibility and market exposure to all emerging artists from emerging countries, focusing on the coffee-producing countries from which illy buys coffee beans: in particular, Brazil, India, Colombia, Guatemala, Costa Rica and Ethiopia.
The first concrete step in this project was the collaboration initiated at the 52nd International Art Exhibition in Venice with the Italo-Latin American Institute, an international body commissioned by the Biennale since 1972 to organize the participation of Latin-American artists, with their own pavilion, in Venice's International Art Exhibitions.
Last November in Turin, in collaboration with Artissima, the international contemporary art fair, three curators Meskerem Assegued, Mariangela Mendez Prencke and Suman Gopinath– selected in collaboration with the Fair – were involved with the objective of launching and stimulating the creation of an art system in their countries.
This process continued in February in Madrid at ARCO, the international contemporary art fair, at which the company presented the illy SustainArt Prize, in the 2008 edition dedicated to promoting and supporting young artists from Brazil. In 2009, the second edition will focus on youn talents from India.
For further information: http://www.illy.com/
Anna Adriani/Christine Pascolo, illycaffè Trieste - Tel. +39 040 3890111
Giulia Perani/Alberto Bottalico/Susanna Picucci, Cohn & Wolfe Milano - Tel. +39 02 202391 / +39 380 2567706 - giulia.perani@cohnwolfe.com
Anna Adriani/Christine Pascolo, illycaffè Trieste - Tel. +39 040 3890111
Giulia Perani/Alberto Bottalico/Susanna Picucci, Cohn & Wolfe Milano - Tel. +39 02 202391 / +39 380 2567706 - giulia.perani@cohnwolfe.com
