UNIDEE - University of Ideas is an educational programme investigating the relationship between art and the public sphere and combining theory with practice. Through a new programme based on a weekly research and project laboratory under the guidance of a mentor and the active participation of a guest, the residency modules developed for 2016 focus on three new macro topics wich are: research, gift and alteration. Full programme UNIDEE – University of Ideas 2016 available here: http://www.cittadellarte.it/unidee/activities.html

09 May / 13 May, 2016
Mineral Rights. Site Exploration: Biella Guide Tours
Mentor: Lara Almarcegui
Guest: Marco Giardino (Geologist and Professor of Applied Geomorphology at University of Turin, Italy)

Who owns the globe’s sub-surface? What lies there, and how is it instrumentalised by private interests? Mineral Rights is a body of research and series of ongoing artworks. Tracing seams of iron ore, pools of oil, and deposits of alloys, Almarcegui pursues mineral rights across several countries, variously recording her attempts and failures. Almarcegui tries to acquire underneath, not to extract minerals but to highlight how the territory is shaped at a geological level, and how it is broken down for exploitation. Looking back on the history of mining and land ownership, the project investigates how rulers of different countries oppose the idea that individual citizens acquire rights to mineral resources. The workshop will analyse the situation around Biella in depth. It will focus on discovering other interesting areas of transformation in the city while encouraging fieldwork and site investigation.

TOPICS/TAGS
Research, questioning, prospection, field work, awareness, alteration, politics, activism, ownership, state control, territory

Fees and support
570,00 € Including accomodation and half-board

Application information
For complete module outline, schedule and to submit applications: http://www.cittadellarte.it/unidee/activity.html?id=70