Curating with Care II: Dealing with the Past in Curatorial Practice
Block Seminars: September – November 2025
Exhibition: December 2025
Call for Participants
Deadline for application: 20 July 2025
The second edition of Curating with Care, an alternative is an educational program initiated and developed by Tirana Art Lab – Center for Contemporary Art in partnership with Istituto Italiano di Cultura and Vila 31 – Art Explora and supported by the Ministry of Economy, Culture and Innovation.
The program responds to the lack of curatorial education in Albania and the region, offering young cultural workers an opportunity to deepen their knowledge in exhibition making. Since the 1960s, curating has expanded beyond art display to include commissioning, editing, and discursive production, with the independent curator emerging as a key figure in the cultural field. In this context, Curating with Care is a necessary investment in strengthening local curatorial practice.
The second edition of Curating with Care II: Dealing with the Past in Curatorial Practice, will take place at Vila 31, the former residence of dictator Enver Hoxha in the center of Tirana, now repurposed by the Art Explora Foundation. Given its historical significance and symbolic weight, this site offers a compelling context for this year’s program focus: curatorial strategies that engage with the past.
Curating and dealing with the past is a vital area of curatorial practice, exploring historical narratives, memory, and identity. This approach invites reflection on themes such as trauma, heritage, and silenced histories. This edition of Curating with Care expands on these ideas by focusing on the curator’s role as a mediator between past and present—one who reshapes collective memory, engages with overlooked histories, and fosters dialogue on resilience and identity.
The program offers both theoretical and practical knowledge to develop meaningful, context-specific curatorial projects that engage with historical complexities. This edition also emphasizes exchange with local and international artists, curators, and scholars—encouraging dialogue on curatorial strategies that are sustainable, inclusive, and rooted in social relevance.
Program Structure:
The program spans 4 months, consisting of block seminars, discussions, and practical exercises. It concludes with participants developing a curatorial projects that reflect the theme of engaging with the past, at Villa 31. Seminars are primarily held on weekends, ensuring accessibility for working professionals and students.
The program includes:
- 8 Block seminars, led by Albanian and international curators, art historians, and cultural practitioners focused on strategies for engaging with the past through curating. The Seminars are held on the weekends: 13-14 September; 20-21 September; 27-28 September; 4-5 October; 11-12 October; 25-26 October; 8-9 November; 15-16 November.
- Meeting with local and international artists.
- A final exhibition project developed by participants and presented at Vila 31 in December 2025.
