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The Fondazione Furla is Setting Off on a New Adventure

The Fondazione Furla is Setting Off on a New Adventure May 22, 2016News0 Comments

The Fondazione Furla is setting off on a new adventure The Furla Art Award has come to an end after fifteen years and ten editions A new experience and new projects will begin in June 2016 The Fondazione Furla will be changing course as of June 2016.

After completing the final phase of the 12th edition of the Furla Art Award in autumn 2015 – the residential stay at SOMA in Mexico City of the winning artists Maria Iorio and Raphaël Cuomo – and following the “Growing Roots” exhibition organised last year at Palazzo Reale to review and commemorate the ten editions of the Furla Art Award through the winners’ works, the Fondazione Furla has decided to bring the Award to a close, so that it can take on something new and invigorating.

The Fondazione Furla – first established in Bologna in 2008 by FURLA’s president, Ms Giovanna Furlanetto – is the result of a long cultural and planning process begun by that the company began in 2000, when it set up the Furla Art Award, every edition of which has been devised and curated by Chiara Bertola. Right from the beginning, the aim of the Foundation was to support and promote projects launched in the realm of culture, allowing them to develop and progress internationally. The project has always been based around the company’s corporate philosophy: to encourage and promote modern-day Italian culture in all its various forms, ranging from art to fashion design, backing the creativity of young talents and providing a means of studying and interacting with the contemporary scene. All this hard work has been rewarded by the success of the Furla Art Award, first organised by the company at the beginning of the new millennium as a pioneering experiment in our country, which, over the course of ten editions, has gained international recognition as a cutting-edge Italian competition supporting young artists.

From 2000-2015, the Furla Art Award has constantly involved under Chiara Bertola’s supervision, following the changing artistic scene both nationally and internationally, adjusting and fine-tuning its selection procedures, and actively involving leading figures from the International art world and the most important institutions across all five continents as it has constantly striven to meticulously map out and study the whole of Italy, in order to offer visibility to those artists considered most deserving. Over the ten editions of the Award it has progressed from being an annual event to a biennial award. The selection process has involved over 90 Italian and foreign curators, more than 95 judges from all over the world and 10 international artists – patronesses and patrons – responsible for choosing the ten winners from a total of over 50 artists selected as finalists.

The end of the Furla Art Award brings an important cycle to a close and the working relationship between the Fondazione Furla and Chiara Bertola will also change, as she leaves her position as the curator of the Award and Foundation. Nevertheless, Chiara Bertola will still be involved in the Foundation’s various projects as part of its Scientific Committee.

“These last fifteen years have flown by – so the president, Ms Giovanna Furlanetto, noted – our project, which started almost by chance, has transformed into a lengthy working partnership, which, I hope, has left its own small trace on the world of art. Personally speaking, I am extremely grateful to Chiara, who won me over first with her interest and then her real passion for contemporary art, which I am delighted to be able to support and promote. Now she will be joining the Fondazione Furla’s Scientific Committee, so we will be able to continue drawing on her invaluable aid during this new phase destined to be both stimulating and fun of changes.”

The Fondazione Furla will be continuing on its mission to support and enhance contemporary culture in Italy in new ways and with new projects that will start in June 2016

www.fondazionefurla.org

Tags: Art Award, Chiara Bertola, Fondazione Furla, Giovanna Furlanetto, News, What We Adore Magazine