SHORT THEATRE 2025>2027
OPEN CALL FOR ARTISTIC CURATORSHIP
In view of the next three-year period 2025>2027 as articulated by the Italian Ministry of Culture, Associazione AREA06 – ETS opens a call to identify the new curatorial configuration for Short Theatre festival. The selected figure(s) will be entrusted with the tasks of define the artistic project of ST, proposing contents and formats, and sharing priorities, timing, and modalities in the articulation of the programme with the festival team. AREA06’s objective is to encourage the formation of a plural curatorship. Therefore, it will be possible to apply both as an individual and as an association or collective.
If you have any doubts or need further information, please consult the FAQ at the bottom of the page.
1. WHAT IS SHORT THEATRE
Short Theatre is the multidisciplinary festival dedicated to the performing arts that reassembles in Rome the signs of the changing landscape of national and international live performance, with a layered programme of theatre and dance shows, performances, installations, talks, workshops, concerts and DJ sets. An environment that is open to research and exchange, in which to elaborate new forms of transmission of theoretical and practical knowledge; a dimension in which established and emerging artists and professionals as well as the audience can meet, dialogue and experiment with constantly evolving artistic formats and languages.
In a complex metropolitan area such as Rome, Short Theatre brings together themes, contents and subjectivities that define our present. Practice, theory, imagination, and encounter are an organic part of a single artistic proposal, which dialogues with the spaces of the city to reactivate their meanings through reflection and curatorial intervention, reinventing and relaunching connections with the local and international artistic community.
Read here the festival’s story.
1.2 TEAM AND STRUCTURE OF THE FESTIVAL
In its nearly twenty years of existence, Short Theatre has been able to express a strong continuity and cohesion within its working group. A small but heterogeneous group, made up of organisers, artists, administrators, researchers, and students, which over the years has developed and carried forward a collective practice of work, of belonging to a cultural project, of proximity to certain artistic paths, intertwined with political and social activism, constantly broadening its view of the present and adapting its objectives and tools from time to time.
The path undertaken in 2021 with Piersandra Di Matteo – and which is coming to its conclusion in ST2024 – has made it possible to develop a specific management model, in which the care of artistic and programming content takes its place within a plural and shared managerial body, in which responsibilities – both administrative and managerial as well as artistic and project-related – are distributed horizontally among different figures who interact reciprocally.
2. FUTURE PROJECT GUIDELINES
Today, the political and cultural scenario – local, national, international – in which Short Theatre moves has changed, as has the physiognomy of the festival. The start of the new three-year period 2025>2027 makes it possible to redefine even more precisely the priorities of its work, both from the point of view of its multidisciplinary artistic project and its management methods and practices. The aim is, on the one hand, to aim for greater sustainability of the festival, and on the other hand, to give substance to a multidisciplinary, innovative and radically accurate proposal that enhances the social and cultural impact that the festival has produced in recent years, and that it wants to continue to produce, assuming even more incisively the responsibility of remaining connected to the needs of its community.
Considering multidisciplinarity as a structural requirement of the festival’s nature, the lines of work that AREA06 identifies as relevant for the next three-year period of Short Theatre are:
➢ Internationality and contemporaneity – to continue to cultivate one of ST’s main vocations: the ability to build networks with like-minded cultural realities operating in Europe and beyond, and to intercept emerging and significant artistic scenes that hardly find space in the city’s cultural programming.
➢ Relationship with local territories and communities – to continue and take to a deeper level the relationship work undertaken in the last three years, imagining part of its planning that is even more connected with cultural and social realities scattered throughout the city, supporting their activities and entering relations with their communities.
➢ Pedagogies, attention to the practices/theories relationship – the new three-year period will continue to look at practice, theory and spectatorship as an organic part of a single artistic proposal, in the desire to become a traversable platform where the transmission and redefinition of knowledge are possible.
➢ Sustainability – in a changed and increasingly complex social framework, the artistic proposal can only reflect on its own mechanisms of sustainability, both environmental and economic, as well as on the ecology of the lives of those who make it possible. The search for new forms of sustainability thus makes it possible not only to structure the festival’s activities but also to intervene in the same paradigms of cultural and artistic production, redefining alliances and proximities, and identifying new strategies that make the festival an increasingly solid reality in its positioning.
3. CANDIDATE PROFILE
The ideal candidates are cultural professionals, curators, artists, theorists, programmers, producers, lecturers and performing arts experts. The expected duration of the collaboration is from October 2024 until autumn 2027.
REQUIRED
• Strong knowledge of the local, national, and international artistic context in which Short Theatre operates and its related theoretical field. In particular, specific expertise is required in at least one of the project lines indicated in the previous paragraph;
• Specific knowledge of the main disciplines mentioned by the Italian Ministry of Culture that feature in the festival’s programme (theatre, dance, music);
• Experience in project management and familiarity with project management tools;
• Aptitude for collective and relational work;
• Proficiency in Italian and English.
PREFERRED QUALIFICATIONS
• Experience in fundraising;
• Knowledge of the FSNV (ex FUS – Unified Fund for the Performing Arts by Italian Ministry of Culture);
• Knowledge of the city’s institutional framework;
• Familiarity with European cooperation and project design.
4. HOW TO APPLY
To participate in the selection process, it is necessary to send the following documents to info@shorttheatre.org by 11:59 PM on June 30, 2024, indicating in the subject line “NAME_SURNAME_Curation Application ST”:
• Curriculum Vitae
• Cover letter (max 2 pages), highlighting the main professional and research experiences, knowledge of the relevant context, and personal aptitudes;
• A brief document (max 2 pages) describing possible intentions and visions for the festival, with reference to the above-mentioned project lines or other innovative ones.
5. EVALUATION PROCESS
Applications will be evaluated by the Area06 board and the festival team. After an initial selection, a short list of 5 candidates will be identified, who may be asked for an update of the submitted proposal, after the sharing of info regarding the management and financial structure of the festival, to be discussed in an introductory and evaluation meeting. The salary will be communicated along with information on the financial structure when the Short List is selected.
6. TIMELINES AND DEADLINES
➔ June 30: End of call
➔ July 5: Shortlist identification and candidate invitation for the introductory meeting
➔ July 15 – July 25: Meetings
➔ August 5: Confidential notification of the appointment to the shortlisted candidates
➔ September 15: Public announcement of the new curator/s
FAQ
Is it necessary to live in Rome for the entire duration of the assignment?
No, those involved in the curatorship of Short Theatre will be able to carry out most of the assignment remotely, although there will be some periods of work in Rome.
What kind of commitment is envisaged for the curator(s)?
We envisage the role of the figure(s) involved in the curatorship of Short Theatre as a consultancy compatible with other professional commitments, except during certain periods of the year when the workflow will require a more extensive commitment.
What are the work periods in which a more intensive commitment and a presence in Rome is required?
The work periods in which a more extensive commitment and possibly a presence in Rome are to be expected are:- between mid-October and mid-November, to set up and plan the work on the future edition- January, in accordance with the deadline for the ministerial application on 30 January each year- June-September: the months of executive production of the festival- then remote work phases and moments of presence in Rome when necessary for inspections, institutional meetings, etc. will be agreed upon
What is the expected remuneration for the figure(s) sought?
The objective of the call is to identify one or more figures who will make up a new curatorial configuration. Roles and responsibilities of the figure(s) identified will therefore be defined in relation to the form that this configuration will take once the selection process has been completed. The economic proposal will therefore be formulated following the identification of the Short List and communicated to the candidates selected in the Short List prior to the meeting, and will take into account the number of people involved, their origin and the division of roles and responsibilities that will structure the plural work of the curatorship.
Are reimbursements envisaged for travel and accommodation in Rome?
No reimbursement is envisaged for accommodation in Rome. Reimbursements are foreseen to cover travel and work expenses, for which a ceiling will be evaluated and agreed upon.
What is meant by ‘knowledge of the city’s institutional framework’?
Given the complexity of the local context in which Short Theatre takes place, preference will be given to knowledge of the institutional framework of the city of Rome and the Lazio Region. It is not, however, a compulsory but, indeed, a preferential requirement.
More info:
info@shorttheatre.org
