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Florence Biennale launches a challenge to all the students of the Florence International School of Comics to come up with an image that is iconic and representative of the theme of the 11th edition of the international contemporary art exhibition to be held from 6 to 15 October 2017 in the historic Fortezza da Basso in Florence.

DISCOVER THE CONTEST

Florence Biennale Graphic Contest
Create the symbolic image of the 2017 edition
Interpret the theme and experience the world of contemporary art!

The Theme

eARTh: Creativity and Sustainability

The chosen image must be an original conception and creation. It is important that it has the capacity to visually represent, with clarity and immediacy, the world of Contemporary Art and the specific theme of the 11th Florence Biennale, ‘eARTh: Creativity and Sustainability’. With this theme, Florence Biennale aims to contribute to outlining a vision of the future in which creativity and sustainability are the founding principles of an ‘ecosystem’ of art and culture where respect for nature and all forms of life on Earth prevails.

Characteristics of the image required
The design entries submitted will be assessed on the basis of the following criteria

Reference to the world of Contemporary Art
Responsiveness to the theme ‘eARTh - Creativity and Sustainability'
Originality, aesthetics and recognisability
Versatility of the image in different formats, materials and media

The Competition

Who can participate
All students enrolled in the International School of Comics of Florence may participate free of charge, either individually or in groups.

When to submit
The deadline for submitting applications with the proposed work and the necessary documentation is 20 December 2016.

Where to Deliver
Delivery must be made to the email address contest@florencebiennale.org or in person or by post to the Florence Biennale offices

Prizes and Mentions
The author, individual or collective, of the design that will be chosen to be the distinctive graphic symbol of the XI Florence Biennale will be proclaimed the winner of the competition and will receive the following prizes
Exhibition at the XI Florence Biennale in an exclusive space measuring 3 x 2.5 (h) metres!
Publication on brochures, flyers and posters all over the city!
Publication in the exhibition catalogue available online and in all bookshops!
Visibility on the exhibition website and on social channels dedicated to the event!

The Selected Projects

Chiara Bruni

1st Selected Project
Project curated by:
Chiara Bruni

Graphics

It is a poster created by the union of hands and leaves, aimed at creating a real tree where the hands make up the trunk and the leaves of the foliage are united in a colourful and lively pattern. It recalls both environmental sustainability and contemporary art.

Camilla Ciagli

2nd Selected Project
Project curated by:
Camilla Ciagli

Graphics

The idea is to merge man and nature and to regenerate something that now seems to be at the end of its life cycle: the branches that intersect with the two faces in the image are dry and bare, and at the moment when they seem to have nothing left to give, their silhouettes, intertwined with human faces and unnatural colours, are reborn, giving life to everything they encounter.

Ylenia Romoli

3rd Selected Project
Project curated by:
Ylenia Romoli

Illustration

This work shows an image with a dual illustrative value, the central figure of the paintbrush-cipress represents man's ability to act on nature and its ecosystem, through art. Thus the human capacity not only to make everything more beautiful, but also to put art at the service of environmental protection and preservation.

The environment influences man's development and evolution, but it is also man who modifies the environment with his hand.

The image is made in vector, I have chosen a square format so that it is quite susceptible to declination according to printing requirements.

The 10 Best Projects

The top ten best projects in the competition will receive an honourable mention and will be displayed in a collective exhibition in a space reserved for the International School of Comics inside the Fortezza da Basso during the Florence Biennale 2017.

Lucrezia Benvenuti, Giulia Martino, Beatrice Salvatore
Project curated by:
Lucrezia Benvenuti
Giulia Martino
Beatrice Salvatore

Graphics

What inspired us is the concept of pigment, a coloured powder of natural origin that becomes colour, the basis of all art forms. The perception of colour is linked to emotional sensations, so that perception is linked to culture itself.

From earth to art, therefore, passing through peoples and their culture. From the earth-pigment comes a tree, an ancestral symbol, as old as mankind and present in all civilisations with meanings linked to birth, vital energy, regeneration: which is why it is composed of pieces of metal, an inorganic material, a product of man, which in its multiplication becomes a form of life, an aspiration to a path of growth and evolution.

Tobias Meier

Special Mention
Project curated by:
Tobias Meier

Graphics

For the ‘Florence Biennale’ project, I created a coordinated image in typographic style.

The letters that make up the word ‘EARTH’ take centre stage. They are the most visible and distinctive, with cuts that draw the reader's attention, while the various lines serve to connect the composition and help readability.

An image reminiscent of nature and sustainability was chosen for the background; colours were applied to give the idea of something artificial.

Within the image there are also paragraphs of text containing various information about the exhibition.

Beatrice Biondi, Giulia Fiorani, Corinna Stacchini
Project curated by:
Beatrice Biondi
Giulia Fiorani
Corinna Stacchini

Graphics

“Placing culture at the heart of sustainable development policies”

(Hangzhou International Congress, 17 May 2013)

Cultural infrastructures (such as museums and other exhibition spaces) must be used as civic spaces that foster dialogue and social inclusion, so as to promote the value of cohesion. Intercultural dialogue, the need to regenerate the cultural identity of peoples through the universal language of art.

The decision to use the figure of the human heart is because it is the nucleus of the human being, who is therefore called upon to welcome different pieces of culture, the world and nature, to enclose them within himself or even to be made of them. Just as the heart is the core of human life, art can be the core of culture.
The choice to play on the word earth is a further reinforcement: the word for ‘earth’ is confused with the word for ‘heart’ (heart and earth); both, in turn, contain the word for ‘art’ (art), thus giving rise to a series of deliberately equivocal references, demonstrating how blurred the boundaries between differences are.

The alternative proposal was conceived through a synecdoche, a rhetorical figure that stands for the whole for a part. in fact, it was chosen to refer to a human figure, of which the heart is undoubtedly a vital part. Here is an invitation to become aware of the world and culture, the meaning of human rights, equality, social coexistence and sustainability. The figure embodies these values, while ridding itself of anything that might restrain or pollute them.

In both cases the concept is one: only through human intervention can culture and art truly be means of redeveloping those values that are indispensable to the evolution of the world.

Chiara Bruni, Silvia Calosci, Vivian Ceccarelli
Project curated by:

Chiara Bruni
Silvia Calosci
Vivian Ceccarelli

Graphics

We worked on the idea of creating a photomontage image representing the union between the two main topics of this edition of the Florence Biennale: Creativity and Sustainability.

We therefore developed three separate projects but still linked to the basic idea we had chosen.

Project 1: This is a poster created using overlapping patterns on photos of hands symbolising solidarity. Elements recalling contemporary art and nature were combined.

Project 2: Constitutes a poster created by combining hands and leaves to create a real tree where the hands form the trunk and the leaves of the foliage are combined with a colourful and lively pattern. It recalls both environmental sustainability and contemporary art.

Project 3: This poster is made by combining two subjects with two images related to creativity and sustainability. The girl is combined with an image reminiscent of nature and harmony, while the boy is combined with a more abstract image reminiscent of contemporary art.

Mattia Gentili
Project curated by:
Mattia Gentili

Graphics

The project envisages a coordinated image based on the human and natural figures that blend together, representing the union between Creativity and Sustainability.

The colours range from yellow ‘warm colour representing nature’ to blue ‘cold colour representing man and therefore the artificial’. Between them is a geometric graphic symbol that unites them to represent the point of contact between man's artificial creativity and perfect natural geometry.

The title is a ‘very modern and easily readable’ stick font all in capital letters, and the word ‘ART’ is distinguished by a different colour tone. At the bottom is the Florence Biennale logo with space for possible partner and sponsor logos or informative text paragraphs.

Alice Fiumalbi
Project rcurated by:

Alice Fiumalbi

Illustration

The word ‘sustainability’ comes from sustain, from the Latin sustĭnēre, formed from sus-, variant of sub- i.e. ‘under’ and tenere i.e. ‘to hold’.

My image plays on meaning: there are people who physically support an effort in order to build something together. Because sustainability is made possible by collaboration and only by working together for a common goal can it be achieved.

Luca Battiato, Francesca Manca, Jacopo Priami
Project curated by:
Luca Battiato
Francesca Manca
Jacopo Priami

Graphics

In devising the piece, we did not want to directly represent the theme of environmental sustainability, but tried to convey the idea of how contemporary art can be a tool for integrating different cultures. The work we proposed consists of a geode from which three faces emerge. The solid represents precisely this integration and the intention to make different realities coexist. The different expressions represented by the faces stand for the different cultures. The futuristic-looking font completes the contemporary art/culture combination by intensifying this union into an imminent future.

Giuseppe Cosentino, Ylenia Petrini, Elena Rabbi
Project curated by:

Giuseppe Cosentino
Ylenia Petrini
Elena Rabbi

Graphics

Our project was inspired by a reflection on the comparison and search for points of contact between Creativity and Sustainability, the latter understood in the sense of improvement and civil and cultural progress. We therefore considered Art as a bridge, as a set of relationships between elements of reality, very distant or opposed to each other, as a union and synthesis, while respecting the particular identity of each individual element. Closely linked to Art, Creativity thus becomes the opportunity to give order to the chaos of existence, (which in our layout is represented by the surreal photographic collage) giving life to scenarios hitherto only imagined but possible in the near future. Creativity as Sustainability, that is, as the possibility of giving what surrounds us the characteristics of harmony and durability over time, without altering its peculiarities and incessant change.

Enti Promotori

The Florence Biennale is Florence's contemporary art biennial and represents a showcase of excellence for contemporary artistic production on an international level.
Every two years it enlivens the city with a programme of events such as conferences, exhibitions, performances and educational initiatives that offer artists and visitors various opportunities to meet and discuss various aspects of art and culture. Over the years, thousands of artists from over a hundred countries have taken part in this exhibition that welcomes all the main forms of artistic expression.
The 11th edition with the theme eARTh - Creativity & Sustainability will take place in the historic Fortezza da Basso from 6 to 15 October 2017.

Contact
Via delle Porte Nuove, 10
c.a.p. 50144 – Firenze, Italy

Telephone. +39 055 3249173
Fax. +39 055 333540
Email. contest@florencebiennale.org

www.florencebiennale.org

The International School of Comics, a prestigious Academy of Figurative and Digital Arts, is considered an artistic and cultural centre of reference for all young people who decide to acquire a professional specialisation in the field of visual arts. With its 30 years of experience in the education sector, it has been able to maintain the right balance between tradition and innovation, with its courses such as Basic Drawing, Animation, Comics, Illustration, Screenplay for Comics, Creative Writing, courses in 3D Modelling and Animation with Maya, Photoshop, as well as courses in Web Design and Web Advanced.
With its multiple locations throughout Italy, it rightly ranks among the most important national training institutions.

Contact
Viale Spartaco Lavagnini, 42
c.a.p. 50129 – Firenze, Italy

Telephone. +39 055 218950 – +39 0552399592
Fax. +39 055 2676344
Email.  firenze[@]scuolacomics.it

www.scuolacomics.com