If, in the first instance, “dimora” (dwelling) means house, shelter, permanence in a place, literarily it also means hesitation, waiting, delay; moreover, “dimorare” (to bed out) is a botanical term referring to put a plant in the ground, to let it flourish and to grow. It is a nuanced and changeable word, not assertive, that on one hand leads to anchoring, yet on the other hand authorizes impermanence, temporariness, lost and reconfigured time. It seems, then, the best hypothesis is to try to describe and realize an art of residency project between this disorienting scenario, made of isolation and physical distancing.
DIMORE is an experimental art residency organized by the Creativity area of Ufficio Progetto Giovani of the municipality of Padua, in which curators are Stefania Schiavon, Elena Squizzato and Caterina Benvegnù, with the collaboration of Elisa Pregnolato. The residency brings together a group of young artists in order to understand how, and if, in these uncertain times it is possible to reconfigure artistic practices and cultural professions.
As a public entity we want to listen and be active in the debate growing through artists and cultural professionals. Therefore, DIMORE intends to support and sustain research and education of the invited artists, giving them a wide space of confrontation, in which time is slow and expanded, where it is alright to not to make something new, to produce or to hurry in order to create a finite artwork.
The choice to give birth to a residency project right now was led by the will to deconstruct the term of residency itself, to pass by the physical cohabitation of the artists in a common space. The purpose is to recreate a dimension of exchange, reflection and discussion, in which practices and visions are investigated hic et nunc, in an era that nobody can yet define and perceive.
During the two months residency, the artists will participate in online workshop groups, created by art and culture professionals. The workshops are articulated in different themes changing every two weeks, each theme has the task to raise questions about the present time. This website is created as a container, as a weekly journal and as a home for resident artists to be shown and followed in their process of research.
DIMORE is realized with the support of Veneto Region, in the context of Plan of Interventions in Youth Politics DGR n.1675, 12/11/2018, project “Costruire cultura 2”.