SOMA Summer 2019: Scaffolding

SOMA Summer provides a compelling platform for artists, curators, writers, and creative professionals to critically analyze their work and develop new ideas in the context of Mexico City. SOMA Summer is organized around a conceptual framework that changes yearly. The program stresses the importance of research, discussion, and critique. 
Participants engage in: 
–Seminars, workshops, and lectures 
–Mentorships and individual critiques
–Visits to museums, art openings, artists’ studios, and the most relevant cultural sites of Mexico City
–The production of a self-organized publication

From July 1 to August 23, 2019, activities at SOMA Summer will center on the term “scaffolding” in order to study visible and invisible supporting structures (such as language and form), and as a means to better understand the role of power, hierarchy, and surface in artistic practice. The transformative possibilities implicit in the use of scaffolding (in construction, for instance) will lead participants to consider notions of decay, conservation, and gentrification. 

Application  
–The registration deadline is February 3, 2019
–Acceptance will be announced during March 2019
–SOMA encourages applications from artists, curators, art historians, designers, architects, and creative professionals 
–Applications should include résumé, artist’s statement, letter of interest, portfolio, and contact information for three references
–Applications need to be submitted through soma.slideroom.com

Due to the breadth of the program’s content, applicants who are primarily looking for a studio-based residency might wish to reconsider applying.

Activities

Lectures, seminars and workshops with Bjarki Bragason (artist, Iceland), Amy Sara Carroll (artist and writer, United States), Eulogio Guzmán (archeologist, Mexico), Anthony Graves (artist, United States) Yaiza Hernández (theorist, Spain), Sara Nadal-Melsió (writer, Spain), Ester Partegàs (artist, Spain/USA), Benjamin Tiven/Library Stack (artist, United States), Angel Nevárez and Valerie Tevere (artists, United States), and Luis Vargas (researcher, Mexico)

Studio visits with Camel Collective (art collective, Mexico/United States), Marianna Dellekamp (artist, United States), Jorge Mendez Blake (artist, Mexico), Yoshua Okón (artist, Mexico), and Stephan Pasher (artist,United States)

Individual critiques with Tania Candiani (artist, Mexico), Emilio Chapela (artist, Mexico), Giacomo Castagnola (artist, Peru), Marcos Castro (artist, Mexico), Tatiana Cuevas (curator, Mexico), Helena Chávez (art historian, Mexico), Mariana David (curator, Mexico), Irving Domínguez (curator, Mexico), Ricardo Domínguez (artist, United States), Diego Flores Magón (curator, Mexico) Julio García-Murillo (curator, Mexico), Magnolia de la Garza (curator, Mexico), Daniel Garza (curator, Mexico), Mauro Giaconi (artist, Argentina), Edgar Hernández (writer, Mexico), Graciela Kasep (curator, Mexico), Esteban King Álvarez (curator, Mexico), Alejandra Labastida (curator, Mexico), Chip Lord (artist, United States), Catalina Lozano (curator, Colombia), Caroline Montenat (curator, France), Manuela Moscoso (curator, Ecuador), Josefa Ortega (curator, Mexico), Victor Palacios (curator, Mexico), Bárbara Perea (curator, Mexico), Virginia Roy (curator, Mexico), and Itala Schmelz (curator, Mexico)

Site visits to Archivo General de la Nación, Biquini Wax ESP, Casa del Hijo del Ahuizote, Cráter Invertido, Museo Nacional de Antropología e Historia, Museo Nacional de las Intervenciones, Obra en Obra, Obrera Centro, Panik, Proyector, Templo Mayor, and most relevant museums and independent art spaces in Mexico City

Mentorships

Advisors: Anthony Graves (artist, United States), Carla Herrera-Prats (artist, Mexico) and Sara Nadal-Melsió (writer, Spain)

Mentors: Ricardo Alzati (artist, Mexico), Virginia Colwell (artist, United States), Nate Harrison (artist, United States), Fabiola Iza (curator, Mexico), Patrick Killoran (artist, United States), and Joaquín Segura (artist, Mexico)

SOMA Summer 2019 is organized by Carla Herrera-Prats and Sara Nadal-Melsió, and is coordinated by Andrea Núñez. It is one of three SOMA programs. SOMA is an organization dedicated to cultural exchange and arts pedagogy in Mexico City. SOMA is a space for reconsideration and reflection, where students and participants have the opportunity to critically analyze their proposals and where revisiting creative processes is encouraged.