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Madrassa

Madrassa is a research program on curatorial and museum practices in contemporary art that examine an evolving definition of contemporary curatorial practices shaped by the specific context of our Global South. 

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OPEN CALL FOR PARTICIPANTS ! 

 
Training workshop in Casablanca, 30 March to 10 April 2020
Deadline to apply: 20 February 2020
Selection: 24-26 February May 2020

​For information: programme.madrassa.2020@gmail.com

Complete Guidelines to download (in english)

Curatorial residencies in Tangier, Marrakech or Casablanca 

APPLICATION PROCESS    

   

Applications are to be sent in English to programme.madrassa.2020@gmail.com before February 20, 2020 (midnight) and must include:

  • A resume. 

  • A cover letter explaining your interest in the Madrassa programme and the themes of this session, your previous experience, as well as your professional projects (1 page). 

  • Curatorial Project proposal (1 page max). Please make sure to specify your motivations and the main ideas of the project. Your projects will be discussed during the training in Casablanca

  • You may add any other documents you see fit (art or writing portfolio, etc.)

 

Please specify if you need to apply for a visa and/or a mobility fund for the training in Casablanca.

REQUIREMENTS FOR PARTICIPATION:

 

  • Madrassa targets professionals (or students about to finish their studies) who wish to train or specialize, and meet at least two of the following criteria:

    • Significant experience in a structure such as a museum, an arts center, a gallery, a festival, a biennale, an artists’ residency, a cultural or art magazine, archives, etc.

    • Studies in cultural or arts management, anthropology or social sciences, modern art history or museological studies.  

    • A strong interest in curatorial practices and art history.

    • An artist interested in curatorial and museum practices. 

 

  • All participants must be:

    • Active in Middle East and/or Africa. 

    • Available for twelve days of training. 

    • Able to participate in training sessions which will be given -or translated- in English, as it is the common language of most participants and speakers.

 

  • Important:

    • There is no age limit and no restriction in regard to nationality

    • Accommodation, half-board and per-diem during the training are covered by the programme. 

    • The programme can help  the participants in their application for mobility funds including (but not limited to) foreign embassies, Art Moves Africa, Afrikayna (Africa Art Line), Roberto Cimetta Fund (Tamteen), Mawred Al Thaqafy (Wijhat).

 

 

More information on Madrassa Program:

Madrassa is a research program on curatorial and museum practices in contemporary art. The programme strives to educate and connect a community of young arts professionals through training and networking opportunities. This training examines an evolving definition of contemporary curatorial and museum practices, shaped by the specific context of the region. We will think and reflect on the essential role of contemporary exhibitions and curatorial essays and projects, in the important writing of narratives and histories of art and culture in an urban context.


Madrassa supports new, independent curatorial and museum practices that look beyond the existing dominant modes of production and dynamics of the global art world, and seek to render art more accessible to all. It explores socially engaged visual arts practices, promotes collaborative projects and rich transnational exchange, and offers a platform for experimentation to the region’s emerging curatorial talents.
 
The first and second edition of the programme was launched in 2015 and 2017 by l’Atelier de l’Observatoire (Art and Research) in Casablanca. The third edition of the programme will accept ten participants. It  comprises a training on curatorial and museum practices, and a residency in three independent art spaces in Morocco.  

The theme of this session will address the importance of collecting and narrating as a fundamental tool for curatorial and museum practice in our context.  
The trainings are specifically dedicated to alternative historiographical approaches that are being developed in Africa and the Middle East through curatorial and museum practices. Working through conceptual and practical considerations the participants and trainers will engage with the collection of the Collective Museum as we will invite them to build with us a narrative and a way to display our collection. 
 

PREVIOUS EDITIONS  (2015-2017)

The pilot Madrassa session took place in October 2015 in Casablanca, bringing together 15 participants from Morocco, Algeria, Tunisia, Egypt, Lebanon and Cameroon, and more than 12 international instructors, with the support of the Arab Fund for Art and Culture, Goethe Institut Maroc, Institut Français and Art Moves Africa. The second Madrassa session took place in 2017.

When launched, the program was one of the first of its kind in the region.

 

Since its first edition, Madrassa targeted students nearing the end of their studies and young professionals with experience of working for museums, universities, research centres, galleries, associations, reviews and independent art spaces and based in Algeria, Egypt, Morocco, Tunisia, Mauritania, Libya, Jordan, Syria, Palestine and Lebanon.

 

The participants, selected through a call for applications, benefited from a week seminar in Casablanca, including training sessions, workshops, meetings, visits and practical sessions towards the development of their personal and collective projects, which are subsequently proposed to various international partner institutions. Thus having formed a network, the group proceeded to follow each other’s progress and shared their resources and experiences over the years.

 

On completion of the seminar, the groups of 2 trainee curators were invited to complete a month’s residency at one of Madrassa’s partners - art spaces in Egypt, Morocco, Algeria and Jordan, where they were tasked with designing and producing an exhibition or artistic project (reading, performance, screening) in collaboration with local actors and with the supervision of an experienced curator.

Madrassa is a programme of curatorial research and practice in contemporary art. It is one of the first of its kind in the region. The programme strives to educate and connect a community of young arts professionals through training and networking opportunities.

Contact : programme.madrassa@gmail.com

 

Madrassa 2 (2017)

Training workshop in Casablanca, 25 to 29 September, 2017

Curatorial residencies in Alexandria, Amman, Algiers or Casablanca (1 to 10 October, 2017)

CALL FOR PARTICIPATION

Deadline : 5 may2017

Document to download (in english)


 

Le programme Madrassa reçoit également le soutien de :

Exhibition, Kunsthal Aarhus

 

2016, Denmark

 

The curatorial collective Madrassa, born out of the Madrassa training in curatorial practices (2015), has been selected following a call for proposals from Kunsthal Aarhus (Denmark) for an exhibition on collective practices from June to September 2016. 

 

 

Madrassa 1 (2015)

 

5-9 October 2015, Casablanca

 

Modules including trainings, encounters, visits, presentations, case studies and practical workshops run by regional and international professionals, to collectively engage with contemporary curatorial practices.

 

 

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