The art of the process
curated by Valentina Bonizzi
ottobre 2017
https://theartoftheprocessblog.wordpress.com
The Art of the Process is an exhibition/laboratory conceived
by Valentina Bonizzi, composed of a series of workshops
made in collaboration with social entrepreneurs in Albania,
presentations by contemporary artists working with partici-
patory and community-based practices and a blog which will
make available the progress of the work on line. Furthermore the program intends to activate a sustainable conver-
sation between social entrepreneurs in the territory, by
presenting and discussing Law 65 on Social Enterprises
which is still in the process of being actualized.
To produce social empowerment while working in a capitalist economy is one of the hardest challenges in contempo-
rary society. Many exciting ideas have been formulated in
this field. Nonetheless when implementing them, a few
fundamental criteria must always be brought into play in
order to avoid failures. While the conditions of production
are often obscured behind the full-blown image of the
outcomes, one should rather strive to revert this law of
visibility. In other words, processes must be made visible.
Taking cue from contemporary art insistence on the process
over the final outcome, we can seek to expand these propo-
sitions from the art sphere to the social field.
What defines a social enterprise is not the kind of products
or services that it produces but the aims and the methodolo-
gy through which the production is realized. The term Social
Enterprise was used for the first time in Italy at the end of
1980s to define several initiatives that were lacking of a
constitution. Today social enterprises are considered initia-
tives producing public and private goods and services
whose aim is not only the owners' mere profit, but also the
production of a measurable social impact.
Relational art developed at the end of the 1980s beginning
of 1990s. As Nicolas Bourriaud writes, relational art compris-
es: ‘...A set of artistic practices which take as their theoreti-
cal and practical point of departure the whole of human
relations and their social context, rather than an indepen-
dent and private space...”. In these practices the artist shifts
from being the pivotal center to become the activator of
collective and participatory works.
Both social enterprises and relational art developed during a
time of economic and political crisis in the 90’s that saw a
reduction in individual power (mainly in the form of purchas-
ing power), with a consequent increase of interest for collec-
tive initiatives. To this day social enterprises do not have a
legal status in Albania as the process of actualizing the local
Law 65 ruling on the matter of social enterprises, is still
underway.
Through a series of workshops and discussions, The Art of
the Process intends to activate a sustainable debate
between social entrepreneurs in the territory, by presenting
and discussing Law 65 as well as showcasing relevant art
projects.
The Art of the Process will be collaborating with different
social entrepreneurs in Albania such as: Qendra Rinore
Arka in Shkoder who works in partnership with the commu-
nity, business and government, to strive for excellence in
meeting the needs of the ‘Total Person’, body, mind and
spirit, through the provision of educative, supportive, recre-
ational, cultural, sporting and welfare programs; Eco-social
Farm Ana e Malit, a project that aims at increasing the
number of the people involved in the social, cultural and
economic life of the community. New York Tirana Bagels,
the first New York style bakery in Tirana working as a social
business with women against violence, more independent
young collectives with the initiative of activating culture in
their city; and others to be announced.
Artist’s collaborations include: Wurmkos Foundation
(Sesto San Giovanni) a visual arts laboratory created in
1987 by Pasquale Campanella. It relates art and psychic
problems without setting objectives of salvation. Baubaus
(Milan) started in 2010 by Patrizio Raso at the Istituto Sperimentale Rinascita as a research-action which uses art to
work on the experiential discovery of the self through collec-
tive observation and reflection. Stalker – Osservatorio
Nomade (Roma) works since 1995 to propose collective
practices of walking to perceive a spontaneous and autono-
mous becoming. The Wunderkammer Museum (Trento)
defines itself as an artistic action, a political gesture a feat of
acrobatics. It gathers and catalogues places within the
urban texture by the people of live and cross the city.
Fondazione Lac o Le Mon (San Cesario di Lecce and
Cavallino) was initiated in 2015 by artists Emilio Fantin, Luigi
Negro, Giancarlo Norese, Cesare Pietroiusti and Luigi Pres-
icce. The foundation is an experimental center for the arts,
based on self-education. Il Fondo Speculativo di Provvidenza is an artistic project by Luigi Coppola e Christophe
Meierhans, (Belgio/Italy) that generate and realises a political
collective practice through the use of monetary capital,
involving directly the audience in the process.
Confirmed guests will be Franco Marzocchi one of the
founders of la Banca Etica/Ethical Bank and curator Luisa
Perlo to represent a.titolo, a non-profit organization estab-
lished in 2001 in Turin with the aim of investigating and
promoting the relation between art, the public sphere and
society.
The program of The Art of the Process will be ongoing
between February and September 2017 and can be
followed on line at:
https://theartoftheprocessblog.wordpress.com/
Or in Albanian language:
https://artiiprocesit.wordpress.com/
For any information regarding the program please contact
[email protected] with the subject: artiiprocesit
The program the Art of the Process is supported by the
Italian Institute of Culture in Tirana
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