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Open Side, Bocconi's New Space to Discuss Artistic Practices

, by Andrea Celauro
On 13 April, the University will inaugurate an environment where exhibits and debates explore the relationship between contemporary art and higher education. On 16 April, the program opens with artist Riccardo Previdi

A physical space where Bocconi's boundaries meet the city of Milan. But also an abstract space where art and research ideas can be discussed and debated. And the nexus joining the two: the relation between higher education and artistic practice. This new space of cultural mediation is called Open Side, because it's open to the whole city. It is located at Via Röntgen 1, and will be inaugurated on 13 April at 6:00pm in the presence of Bocconi Rector Andrea Sironi, the president of the Bocconi Arts Campus committee, Paola Dubini, Vice President of the Art, Science, Knowledge (ASK) research center, Stefano Baia Curioni, and the artist Riccardo Previdi.

Open Side is part of the initiatives organized by Bocconi Arts Campus. It will focus on the artist's education and training and will be managed by the ASK research center. The program is divided into three series of meetings devoted to visual arts, texts and literature, and performance arts, respectively. Each series will have its own section of exhibits and debates with artists and prime movers of the art world open to the general public. The first event, devoted to visual arts, will be on 16 April at 6:00pm. It is a roundtable in English titled "Cosmopolitan Canvases: Art and education facing globalization." It will be moderated by Stefano Baia Curioni and host the following panel of speakers: Ilaria Bonacossa (PAC, Villa Croce), Patrizia Brusarosco (Viafarini), Adrian Favell (SciencesPo), Annie Ratti (Fondazione Antonio Ratti), Angela Vettese (IUAV).

The first show will display the findings of the research project "The State of the Art: Art Practices, Cultural Practices and Social Transformation" exploring the dynamics of the contemporary art market, which was conducted by the ASK research center and shown at the 2014 Biennale of Architecture.

"Bringing the worlds of art and academia together is a contribution to general knowledge," says Paola Dubini. "Open Side intends to be the place where these two worlds can meet, both physically and in the realm of ideas. It's also a space open to the city, so that the discussion on art and its role in society and the economy won't be confined to the University."

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