TELL ME ABOUT MANDRA, WHAT DO YOU WANT TO CREATE/ACHIEVE?
Mandra is a curatorial collective composed of Sandra Beccaro and Marta Chinellato. Our aim is to carry out collaborations with emerging artists operating in the Milanese through different types of projects that we will collect on our website www.mandra-archivio.com. Our main goals are to enhance, involve and identify. Valorise the work of emerging artists using the practice of the studio visit, to involve artists and actors from the Milanese panorama, to identify contemporary art trends.
WHAT DO YOU THINK SETS YOU APART?
The project stems from long research into emerging art: we have looked at what are the current stimuli on the Italian and especially the Milanese art scene and we questioned ourselves on its needs. Our projects put the figure of the artist back at the centre, his practice and research, moving away from market dynamics.
WHY THIS CHOICE, I ASSUME, IS DRIVEN BY A NEED?
Yes exactly, specifically Mandra was created out of a need to mediate the work of young emerging artists who deal with themes which investigate the individual, and the self, in relation to the collective and to the present.
STUDIO VISIT IS THE KEY WORD, RIGHT? WHY? AND HOW WILL YOU ADDRESS/HOW MUCH INFLUENTIAL WILL THE STUDIO VISIT BE IN CHOOSING THE FINAL EXHIBITION SPACE? IN OTHER WORDS, DO YOU START FROM THE STUDIO VISIT TO THE FINAL EXHIBITION SPACE OR VICE VERSA?
Mandra Studio Visit is just Mandra's first project and consists of a virtual account of the studio visit experience at the artists' studios. We feel it’s important to create a dialogue with the artists that focuses on their practice, and the tools they use to look at the contemporary, which inevitably become inspiration and part of the artists' work. Exhibition spaces, in this case, can be considered both the artists' studio and the online space that becomes a showcase for contemporary research.
HOW HAVE THE ARTISTS RESPONDED? HOW DO YOU THINK THEY WILL RESPOND?
We are very pleased with the responses we are receiving. Being a project that wants to put artists in the spotlight, we have been welcomed into their studios with enthusiasm and desire to share projects, research, and experiences. During the studio visits we create moments of conviviality and sharing that help us get in tune with the artists and their world.
FOR ARTISTS WHO READ US, HOW CAN THEY CONTACT YOU, DO YOU HAVE A SELECTION CRITERION?
Via email mandrastudiovisitgmail.com or our Instagram page @mandra.archivio and no, we do not have specific criteria, we choose based on our interests, affinity, and taste without too many restrictions of CV, age, practices and medium.
(USUAL QUESTION) WHAT SHOULD A CURATOR DARE TO DO?
In our opinion, daring currently means following one's own interests and carving out one's own physical and theoretical space within the art scene. It is necessary to look at what is happening in the art world and take in the food for thought while still asking questions about it.
By REBECCA CHIUSA
for DARE CLAN