2020
Irene Campolmi: A Space of Intimacy – Reflections on Performance and Duration Post-Pandemic
(link in the title)
My talk reflects on the essence of performance as a durational gesture that stretches and suspends time from its conventional understandings. Duration can, in fact, refer to gestures that happen in a split of a second. By presenting a personal experience in curating a so-called 'durational performance', I reflect on the changes occurred to this time-based medium, usually meant to create situations where bodies become intimate by being in close contact in time and space.
At the same time, I investigate how performance is also a testing ground for experimenting, thinking and feeling other ways of existing, by being present and still. Stillness is the indication for the so-called 'durational performance', which are those gestures that take place and extend beyond the conventional chrono-normative understanding of time.
Yet, being still is also what the lockdown scores advise (or imposes in some cases). Is there something we could test, experiment and thus learn from the medium that -by definition- subverts, manipulates and reinterpret conventional notions of time as something that passes and not something we, as human beings, passes through?
I shares reflections on performance as an open-ended ritual with no beginning and no end, and as a gesture that is durational because it stages and acts something that is unceasingly being done.
Italy and East Africa: Unexplored Histories, with Carmen Belmonte and Irene Campolmi
(link to the title)
Symposium organized by The Power Plant, Toronto; Irene Campolmi; Dawit L. Petros.To consider multiple perspectives about migrations, modernism, and Italian colonization in East Africa – the subject of Dawit L. Petros: Spazio Disponibile – in greater depth, The Power Plant presents a series of online conversational programs in partnership with the Istituto Italiano di Cultura.Initially conceived as a symposium, this series seeks to illuminate how this period of colonization in African and Italian history informs the current political climate, past and present migrations, and how artists continue to respond to its legacy.
Magnetic Poetry. Basim Magdy and Irene Campolmi
(link to the title)
A talk part of the program Breaking Patterns curated by Etienne Berbard, myself and artist Basim Magdy enter in conversation reflecting on the possibilities of visual poetry obtained by juxtaposing diverse contexts into a fictional narrative. Revisiting Magdy's research and his recent film M.A.G.N.E.T, in which he developed a way to combine poetry, image and sound introduced the challenge they planned for the participants: designing fictional narratives using seemingly disparate keywords – magnetic poetry. These narratives could be presented as text, poetry, series of images or any unusual medium or format the participant groups agreed upon. You will be especially able to discover an example of one of these group creations from the minute 48:30 onwards. A group of four participants, meeting for the first time, managed in thirty minutes to conceive a performance with live music, dance and poetry.
(link in the title)
My talk reflects on the essence of performance as a durational gesture that stretches and suspends time from its conventional understandings. Duration can, in fact, refer to gestures that happen in a split of a second. By presenting a personal experience in curating a so-called 'durational performance', I reflect on the changes occurred to this time-based medium, usually meant to create situations where bodies become intimate by being in close contact in time and space.
At the same time, I investigate how performance is also a testing ground for experimenting, thinking and feeling other ways of existing, by being present and still. Stillness is the indication for the so-called 'durational performance', which are those gestures that take place and extend beyond the conventional chrono-normative understanding of time.
Yet, being still is also what the lockdown scores advise (or imposes in some cases). Is there something we could test, experiment and thus learn from the medium that -by definition- subverts, manipulates and reinterpret conventional notions of time as something that passes and not something we, as human beings, passes through?
I shares reflections on performance as an open-ended ritual with no beginning and no end, and as a gesture that is durational because it stages and acts something that is unceasingly being done.
Italy and East Africa: Unexplored Histories, with Carmen Belmonte and Irene Campolmi
(link to the title)
Symposium organized by The Power Plant, Toronto; Irene Campolmi; Dawit L. Petros.To consider multiple perspectives about migrations, modernism, and Italian colonization in East Africa – the subject of Dawit L. Petros: Spazio Disponibile – in greater depth, The Power Plant presents a series of online conversational programs in partnership with the Istituto Italiano di Cultura.Initially conceived as a symposium, this series seeks to illuminate how this period of colonization in African and Italian history informs the current political climate, past and present migrations, and how artists continue to respond to its legacy.
Magnetic Poetry. Basim Magdy and Irene Campolmi
(link to the title)
A talk part of the program Breaking Patterns curated by Etienne Berbard, myself and artist Basim Magdy enter in conversation reflecting on the possibilities of visual poetry obtained by juxtaposing diverse contexts into a fictional narrative. Revisiting Magdy's research and his recent film M.A.G.N.E.T, in which he developed a way to combine poetry, image and sound introduced the challenge they planned for the participants: designing fictional narratives using seemingly disparate keywords – magnetic poetry. These narratives could be presented as text, poetry, series of images or any unusual medium or format the participant groups agreed upon. You will be especially able to discover an example of one of these group creations from the minute 48:30 onwards. A group of four participants, meeting for the first time, managed in thirty minutes to conceive a performance with live music, dance and poetry.
2018
Performative Lecture: Dawit L. Petros and Irene Campolmi
The Power Plant, Toronto/ OCAD University, Toronto, 21 January 2020
(link to the title)
In conjunction with the exhibition Dawit L. Petros: Spazio Disponibile, and in partnership with OCAD University, The Power Plant presented a performative lecture by myself and Dawit L. Petros. We consider multiple perspectives about migrations, modernism, and Italian colonization in East Africa – the subject of Dawit L. Petros: Spazio Disponibile – in greater depth, to illuminate how this period of colonization in African and Italian history informs the current political climate, past and present migrations, and how artists continue to respond to its legacy.
The Power Plant, Toronto/ OCAD University, Toronto, 21 January 2020
(link to the title)
In conjunction with the exhibition Dawit L. Petros: Spazio Disponibile, and in partnership with OCAD University, The Power Plant presented a performative lecture by myself and Dawit L. Petros. We consider multiple perspectives about migrations, modernism, and Italian colonization in East Africa – the subject of Dawit L. Petros: Spazio Disponibile – in greater depth, to illuminate how this period of colonization in African and Italian history informs the current political climate, past and present migrations, and how artists continue to respond to its legacy.
PERFORMING IDENTITIES
Artistic Program- CODE ART FAIR (September 1)
Panel 1:"Politics of Identity: Exhibitions and Public Programs"
Moderator: Irene Campolmi
Sam Thorne (Director, Nottingham Contemporary, Nottingham)
Lucia Pietroiusti (Curator of Live Programmes and General Ecology Project, Serpentine Galleries, London)
Luca Lo Pinto (Curator, Kunsthalle Wien)
Artistic Program- CODE ART FAIR (September 1)
Panel 1:"Politics of Identity: Exhibitions and Public Programs"
Moderator: Irene Campolmi
Sam Thorne (Director, Nottingham Contemporary, Nottingham)
Lucia Pietroiusti (Curator of Live Programmes and General Ecology Project, Serpentine Galleries, London)
Luca Lo Pinto (Curator, Kunsthalle Wien)
Panel 2: “Another Performance Turn: A New understanding of Performance.”
Moderator: Irene Campolmi
Daniel Blanga Gubbay, curator and researcher, Aleppo (Brussels), LiveWorks
Fatoş Üstek (Director and Chief Curator, DRAF -David Roberts Art Foundation, London)
Manuel Segade (Director, CA2M- Centro de Arte Dos De Mayo, Madrid)
Lilibeth Cuenca Rasmussen (Artist)
Moderator: Irene Campolmi
Daniel Blanga Gubbay, curator and researcher, Aleppo (Brussels), LiveWorks
Fatoş Üstek (Director and Chief Curator, DRAF -David Roberts Art Foundation, London)
Manuel Segade (Director, CA2M- Centro de Arte Dos De Mayo, Madrid)
Lilibeth Cuenca Rasmussen (Artist)
ECO-VISIONARIES: INTERNATIONAL DEBATE
MAAT - Museum Art Architecture and Technology
Speakers: Franco Bifo Berardi;
Irene Campolmi;
Ornaghi & Prestinari;
Ursula Biemann.
This debate discusses the environmental changes currently affecting our planet and critical and creative visions stemming from those changes.
MAAT - Museum Art Architecture and Technology
Speakers: Franco Bifo Berardi;
Irene Campolmi;
Ornaghi & Prestinari;
Ursula Biemann.
This debate discusses the environmental changes currently affecting our planet and critical and creative visions stemming from those changes.
2017
INTERVIEW WITH HASSAN KHAN
Hassan Khan and I talk about art, Khan’s risky working process and the power of a concert. As part of the “ArtReActs” program at Code Art Fair 2017, where Khan presented his concert “Live Ammunition! Music for Clapping, String Quartet and Live Electronics” on Friday, September 1st at Copenhagen Contemporary.
Video by I Do Art Agency.
Hassan Khan and I talk about art, Khan’s risky working process and the power of a concert. As part of the “ArtReActs” program at Code Art Fair 2017, where Khan presented his concert “Live Ammunition! Music for Clapping, String Quartet and Live Electronics” on Friday, September 1st at Copenhagen Contemporary.
Video by I Do Art Agency.
2016

ICE- AT THE EDGE (link on the title)
Introductory speech by Irene Campolmi, exhibition curator.
Italian Embassy in Copenhagen
December 10th 2016- February 26th 2017
Introductory speech by Irene Campolmi, exhibition curator.
Italian Embassy in Copenhagen
December 10th 2016- February 26th 2017

Practice-Based Strategies for Curating Performance Art (Paper title)
PERFORMACE IN THE ART MUSEUM
Research gathering Organized by Hamburger Bahnhof – Museum für Gegenwart, Berlin and the Freie Universität Berlin (Germany)
In collaboration with TATE Galleries (London), Louisiana Museum of Modern Art (Humlebæk), Stedelijk Museum (Amsterdam)
August 12th
RESPONDING TO ETHICAL DEMANDS THROUGH CURATING (Paper title)
INTERCOM _ FIHRM Conference “The Ethical Museum”,
ICOM Annual Conference 2016, Milan (Italy),
Invited speaker in the INTERCOM Session, July 5-6.
CONTEMPORARY AETH-ETHICS
Ecole du Magasin- Evening Lecture, Grenoble (France)
Invited keynote Speaker in the Curatorial Training Program
Link to the talk online.
The talk "Contemporary Aesth-Ethics. The Ethical Turn in the 21st century Art Institutions" was included within the public program that the exhibition curators launched in connection to the exhibition "Briser la Glace" (May 28- September 03, 2016).
About the exhibition "Briser La Glace" The summer exhibition Briser la glace of MAGASIN is curated by the members of the 25th session of the École du MAGASIN - Chen Ben Chetrit, Laura Caraballo, Eleonora Castagna, Chloé Curci, Giulia Pagnetti and Armance Rougiron.
PERFORMACE IN THE ART MUSEUM
Research gathering Organized by Hamburger Bahnhof – Museum für Gegenwart, Berlin and the Freie Universität Berlin (Germany)
In collaboration with TATE Galleries (London), Louisiana Museum of Modern Art (Humlebæk), Stedelijk Museum (Amsterdam)
August 12th
RESPONDING TO ETHICAL DEMANDS THROUGH CURATING (Paper title)
INTERCOM _ FIHRM Conference “The Ethical Museum”,
ICOM Annual Conference 2016, Milan (Italy),
Invited speaker in the INTERCOM Session, July 5-6.
CONTEMPORARY AETH-ETHICS
Ecole du Magasin- Evening Lecture, Grenoble (France)
Invited keynote Speaker in the Curatorial Training Program
Link to the talk online.
The talk "Contemporary Aesth-Ethics. The Ethical Turn in the 21st century Art Institutions" was included within the public program that the exhibition curators launched in connection to the exhibition "Briser la Glace" (May 28- September 03, 2016).
About the exhibition "Briser La Glace" The summer exhibition Briser la glace of MAGASIN is curated by the members of the 25th session of the École du MAGASIN - Chen Ben Chetrit, Laura Caraballo, Eleonora Castagna, Chloé Curci, Giulia Pagnetti and Armance Rougiron.
CREATING INTERSTICES THROUGH CURATING. WORKING AS AN INDEPENDENT CURATOR
Art Weekend Aarhus, Aarhus (DK), May 28th
Invited Speaker for the Independent Curating Panel Discussion
Moderated by Danish Curatorial Collective “Randez-Vous”.
CURATORIAL RESEARCH ABD ETHICS IN THE 21ST CENTURY ART MUSEUMS
International Conference “Curatorial Challenges”
University of Copenhagen (Denmark), May 26-27
Art Weekend Aarhus, Aarhus (DK), May 28th
Invited Speaker for the Independent Curating Panel Discussion
Moderated by Danish Curatorial Collective “Randez-Vous”.
CURATORIAL RESEARCH ABD ETHICS IN THE 21ST CENTURY ART MUSEUMS
International Conference “Curatorial Challenges”
University of Copenhagen (Denmark), May 26-27
2015
Conversation with Thomas J. Lax, Associate Curator of Media and Performance Art, MOMA NYC
International Symposium “Between the DISCURSIVE and the IMMERSIVE. A Symposium on Research in the 21st Century Art Museums”
Louisiana Museum of Modern Art, December 3-5 2015.
Organizer and Chair.
The even was organized in collaboration with Stedelijk Museum (Amsterdam, NL) and Aarhus University (DK).
International Symposium “Between the DISCURSIVE and the IMMERSIVE. A Symposium on Research in the 21st Century Art Museums”
Louisiana Museum of Modern Art, December 3-5 2015.
Organizer and Chair.
The even was organized in collaboration with Stedelijk Museum (Amsterdam, NL) and Aarhus University (DK).
THE ETHICAL TURN IF CONTEMPORARY CURATING
(LINK TO THE VIDEO)
International Symposium “Ethics and Art Institutions”, OVERGADEN Institute of Contemporary Art Copenhagen, (Denmark), November 28-29, Keynote Speaker.
(LINK TO THE VIDEO)
International Symposium “Ethics and Art Institutions”, OVERGADEN Institute of Contemporary Art Copenhagen, (Denmark), November 28-29, Keynote Speaker.
WHAT IS ETHICS IN CURATORIAL PRACTICE?
Annual Symposium KA- Aesthetics Conference
ARoS Museum of Modern and Contemporary Art, Aarhus (Denmark)
November 20
Keynote Speaker, paper.
International Conference on Participatory practice “PARTICIPATE! Cultural Transformation and the Participatory Agenda” , October 2-3, University of Southern Denmark and BRANDTS Odense (Denmark)
BETWEEN THE DISCURSIVE AND THE IMMERSIVE: RETHINKING RESEARCH AND CURATING IN THE 21ST CENTURY ART MUSEUMS (LINK IN THE TITLE)
International symposium “Black Mountain – Educational Turn and the Avant-garde”
Museen Hamburger Bahnhof, Berlin, September 25-26
Invited speaker.
Annual Symposium KA- Aesthetics Conference
ARoS Museum of Modern and Contemporary Art, Aarhus (Denmark)
November 20
Keynote Speaker, paper.
International Conference on Participatory practice “PARTICIPATE! Cultural Transformation and the Participatory Agenda” , October 2-3, University of Southern Denmark and BRANDTS Odense (Denmark)
BETWEEN THE DISCURSIVE AND THE IMMERSIVE: RETHINKING RESEARCH AND CURATING IN THE 21ST CENTURY ART MUSEUMS (LINK IN THE TITLE)
International symposium “Black Mountain – Educational Turn and the Avant-garde”
Museen Hamburger Bahnhof, Berlin, September 25-26
Invited speaker.
WHEN RHETORIC MATTERS:MODERN ART MUSEUMS IN THE GLOBAL CONTEXT (PAPER TITLE)
CAA 103rd Conference New York
February 11-15
Speaker in the panel “Global Perspectives on Museums”.
CAA 103rd Conference New York
February 11-15
Speaker in the panel “Global Perspectives on Museums”.
2014
International Conference “Collecting and New Directions in Museology”
MEWO Kunsthalle, Memminghen, October 11-12
Paper: Sustainable Museology: Practice and Discourse about Sustainability in Art Museums
International Seminar “When the Collector Lives On”, Ordrupgaard Museum, Copenhagen, October 10 (with Chris Whitehead)
Paper: The Eccentric Uncle in the Countryside. The Legacy of Knud W. Jensen at Louisiana and the Challenges of New Curatorial Models and Museological Practices
International Conference "Collecting Geographies: Global Programming and Museums of Modern Art", Stedelijk Museum, Amsterdam, March 13-15
Paper: Global Programming and Sustainability. The Contradictions of Modern Art Museums in the 21st Century.
MEWO Kunsthalle, Memminghen, October 11-12
Paper: Sustainable Museology: Practice and Discourse about Sustainability in Art Museums
International Seminar “When the Collector Lives On”, Ordrupgaard Museum, Copenhagen, October 10 (with Chris Whitehead)
Paper: The Eccentric Uncle in the Countryside. The Legacy of Knud W. Jensen at Louisiana and the Challenges of New Curatorial Models and Museological Practices
International Conference "Collecting Geographies: Global Programming and Museums of Modern Art", Stedelijk Museum, Amsterdam, March 13-15
Paper: Global Programming and Sustainability. The Contradictions of Modern Art Museums in the 21st Century.
2013
Sustainable Cultural Heritage Management: Society, Institutions, Networks
Tre University, Roma (Italy)
October 11-12 (with Barry Lord from Lord Cultural Resources & Co.)
Paper: Sustainability in the Cultural Policies of 21st Century Art Museums
International Conference "Discursive Space"
Ryerson University Toronto, in collaboration with AGO - Art Gallery of Ontario, Toronto, Canada, June 20-23
Paper: Sustainable Development and Sustainability in the 21st Century Art Museums. Rethinking Modern Experience through the Narrative Displays
International Seminar "Art With(out) Borders: Rethinking Methodologies of Art and Culture in a Global Context"
University of Bern
Switzerland, June 6-8
Paper: Rethinking Art History Canons in Modern Art Museums Narratives
UCC Art Symposium "Visual Representation and Doubt"
UCC University College of Cork
Ireland, May 10-11
Paper: Sustainable Development and Sustainability in the 21st Century: Narratives versus Disruptions
The 6th International Conference "The Inclusive Museum"
SMK - Staten Museum for Kunst, Copenhagen, DK
April 22-24 (organized by Amarewar Galla)
Paper: Archètopy in Art Museums and “Sustainable Museology”: Turning Displays from Emphatic Sites into Critical-oriented Open Stages
Symposium on Art Collecting "Nineteenth Century Foreign Art Collecting and Displaying in Italy. Creating Visions, Exporting Models"
ax-Planck Institute- Kunsthistorishes Institut in Florenz, Florence Palazzo Grifoni, April 5th
Paper: The Acton Family at Villa La Pietra. Italian and American Collecting Models ( research made in collaboration with Francesca Baldry, Acton Collection Manager, NYU- Villa La Pietra, Florence)
Tre University, Roma (Italy)
October 11-12 (with Barry Lord from Lord Cultural Resources & Co.)
Paper: Sustainability in the Cultural Policies of 21st Century Art Museums
International Conference "Discursive Space"
Ryerson University Toronto, in collaboration with AGO - Art Gallery of Ontario, Toronto, Canada, June 20-23
Paper: Sustainable Development and Sustainability in the 21st Century Art Museums. Rethinking Modern Experience through the Narrative Displays
International Seminar "Art With(out) Borders: Rethinking Methodologies of Art and Culture in a Global Context"
University of Bern
Switzerland, June 6-8
Paper: Rethinking Art History Canons in Modern Art Museums Narratives
UCC Art Symposium "Visual Representation and Doubt"
UCC University College of Cork
Ireland, May 10-11
Paper: Sustainable Development and Sustainability in the 21st Century: Narratives versus Disruptions
The 6th International Conference "The Inclusive Museum"
SMK - Staten Museum for Kunst, Copenhagen, DK
April 22-24 (organized by Amarewar Galla)
Paper: Archètopy in Art Museums and “Sustainable Museology”: Turning Displays from Emphatic Sites into Critical-oriented Open Stages
Symposium on Art Collecting "Nineteenth Century Foreign Art Collecting and Displaying in Italy. Creating Visions, Exporting Models"
ax-Planck Institute- Kunsthistorishes Institut in Florenz, Florence Palazzo Grifoni, April 5th
Paper: The Acton Family at Villa La Pietra. Italian and American Collecting Models ( research made in collaboration with Francesca Baldry, Acton Collection Manager, NYU- Villa La Pietra, Florence)