Call for entries for the international exhibition "Towards a critical rurality"

The Rural Design concept derives from the need to develop a new gaze that interprets the territory in a dynamic way, focusing attention on the connections within an organism and between organisms. This gaze is capable of advancing concrete planning proposals, immediately expendable, but also implementable over time.

Specifically, the design must be oriented by ecological and systemic criteria.

The designer (in its broad sense) must conceive production processes in which the output of one system can become another’s input (circular economy) and elaborate visions and plans that take into account the whole system that generates processes, products, services and environments, as well as the flows of materials and energy between the different phases that distinguish their life cycles, favoring the use of renewable or low environmental impact resources and a proper end-of-life treatment. Until a few years ago, all these aspects were not taken into account in the design practice.

In this new scenario, new images of the agricultural environment are elaborated: not only as a place for material goods production, but also as a source of symbolic goods

Nature, the main producer of the symbols of this environment, is the foundation for a new conception of rurality and to redefine city-countryside relationships. By being aware of the complexity of these processes, we are also forced to confront the generosity and fragility of nature itself. In this framework, cultivating – in its broadest sense of managing the soil seen as a common heritage and of primary activity for human existence – deserves special attention and requires a critical reworking of the rurality itself.

PURPOSE OF THE CALL FOR ENTRIES

Artists, designers, architects, start-ups and researchers from all over the world are invited to participate in this call, by sending works which adhere to this redefinition of rurality, investigate the relationship between the urban and the peripheral areas, as well as  those between human activities and natural cycles. Candidates are invited to confront and engage, primarily, but not exclusively, with the resources typical of the Matese area – raw materials, production waste, construction techniques, local crafts – that will host the first edition of the Rural Design Week.

The participants in the exhibition “Towards a Critical Rurality”, part of the first edition of Rural Design Week, regardless of the resources – natural, economic and socio-cultural – that will be used for their works, can contribute to the following categories:

Category A: Rural design / systemic design objects

Category B: New naturally-based materials

Category C: Projects or processes inspired by the principles of circular economy and systemic design.

All the selected works – e.g. artifacts or products, installations, new materials or processes – will be exhibited (or realized in situ, in agreement with the authors/designers) in the Municipality of San Potito and in the surrounding areas.

VISITS: For those interested, the proponents of this call will be available to conduct visits of the territory. Visits can be booked until 19 April, to do so please email us.

COMPETITION PROMOTER

Ru.De.Ri – Rural Design per la Rigenerazione dei Territori

JURY COMPOSITION AND WINNERS SELECTION

The jury is presided by Mario Festa (architect, President of the Ru.DeRi Association) and composed of:

• Marco Scotini – Head of NABA Visual Arts and Curatorial Studies Department  (Milano, Italy)
• Iain Chambers – Professor of Cultural and Postcolonial Studies at the Oriental University in Naples and Founder of the Center for Postcolonial and Gender Studies of the Oriental University.
• Michael Obrist – Architect, partner of Feld72 studio and Professor of Housing Construction and Design at the Technische Universität of Wien (Austria)
• Rihards Funts – Designer – Latvia
• Marjetica Potrč – Artist and architect – Slovenia
• Ugo La Pietra  – Designer – Italy
• Maria Thereza Alves – Artist – Brazil

The jury will evaluate the contributions to be set up in the Matese Regional Park and included in the exhibition catalog. The selected works will be notified by 6 May 2019).

Three winners will be selected, one for each of the following categories:

• artifact related to rural design/ systemic design
• new material based on natural components
• project or process based on the principles of circular economy/ systemic design

The winners (one for each category) will receive a prize of €1,500 and will be invited to publicly present their contribution during the Matese Rural Design Week (travel expenses, board and lodging will be covered by the organizers).

In addition, the jury will select other works of particular note, which will be exhibited from May 31st to June 9th 2019 in the San Potito municipality and surrounding areas, both indoors and outdoors, taking into account the specific characteristics and needs of the individual contributions.

The jury will also assign a special mention to one of the selected works: an art residency (from 10 March to 7 April 2020) at the Art Center “La Regenta”, an exhibition space in Las Palmas de Gran Canaria. The residency, offered by “La Regenta”, includes: accommodation (with kitchenette), €400* for board expenses, a production space, a €500* fee and the chance to present the work to the public of the Art Center at the end of the residency period.

(*VAT must be deducted from the two amounts, based on the percentage in force in the winner’s country of residence).