CECAC 2008

Introduction

The Province of Milan, the Fondazione Antonio Ratti, and the Delegation of the European Commission in Milan promote the second edition of the European Course of Contemporary Art Curators (CECAC), curated by Roberto Pinto and Gabi Scardi .

The course gives the opportunity to European young curators to work side by side with an internationally renowned Visiting Professor, this year Charles Eshe , approaching a critical analysis of theoretical and practical aspects of curatorship and of the contemporary art scene. In the European Year of Intercultural Dialogue the course also represents an occasion to establish new connections between young operators from different European countries.  

Course Structure.
The course has a seminar structure, and every year contents are planned according to the Visiting Professor’s guidelines. The course lasts 10 days, with an intensive schedule of theoretical and practical lessons held by the Visiting Professor, presentations of the participants’ projects and experiences, visits to exhibition spaces and institutions of the territory. The students also spend one day with a Visiting Artist ( Nedko Solakov ) invited by the Visiting Professor, whose work is related to the course issues. Classes are full time, attendance is compulsory. A catalogue/essay collection with texts by all the participants will be published following the course. 

Objectives
The course aims to:
- promote reflections and investigations questioning the role of the curator, and research projects on contemporary art.
- set up a working platform that may enable participants to develop further curatorial projects.
- offer young curators the opportunity to work side by side with one of the leading experts of the European contemporary art scene.
- support contacts between young operators of the European contemporary art scene.
- encourage international circulation of cultural projects and competences. 
- promote the publication of a catalogue documenting the course activities of each year.

Contents
Charles Esche is the Visiting Professor of the second edition of the course. The programme will address the following issues: how art museums and other art institutions can function within a city and with  particular communities; how creative communities in diverse parts of  the world can connect, learn from each other and break down nationalistic or regional barriers to a global, but differentiated,  cultural sphere; the objectives and purposes of a city  art museum in the twenty-first century, in a society where global cultural exchanges, local communities, public identities, singularity
and the public sphere become the main questions.