The open call for the 14th edition of VISIO—European Programme on Artists’ Moving Images at Lo Schermo dell’Arte is now open, until May 23, 2025. It is a research, residency, and production programme dedicated to young artists who use moving images in their artistic practice.
The project, curated by Leonardo Bigazzi, will be held in Florence in conjunction with the 18th edition of Lo Schermo dell’Arte—Cinema and Contemporary Art Festival, from November 12–16, 2025. Eight selected artists will be invited to Florence to develop their own original projects during an intensive programme of mentoring sessions, round tables and individual meetings, in dialogue with international curators and artists.
VISIO confirms its commitment in supporting younger generations of artists with the new edition of the VISIO Production Fund, a 35,000 EUR fund conceived in partnership with Centro per l’Arte Contemporanea Luigi Pecci (Prato), Fondazione In Between Art Film (Rome), FRAC Bretagne (Rennes), and with the contribution of Human Company, a historic enterprise and reference point in Italy for openair hospitality, which also provides a reimbursement of participating artists’ travel expenses.
The selected participants will develop their projects with mentors Hiuwai Chu, Head of Exhibitions at MACBA Museu d’Art Contemporani de Barcelona, and Valentine Umansky, Curator at Tate Modern (London). Other guests of the programme include Daniel Blanga Gubbay, Artistic Director of Kunstenfestivaldesarts (Brussels), and representatives of the project partner institutions: Etienne Bernard, director FRAC Bretagne; Stefano Collicelli Cagol, director Centro per l’Arte Contemporanea Luigi Pecci; Alessandro Rabottini, artistic director Fondazione In Between Art Film. The funds will eventually be awarded to three winning artists who will work with Leonardo Bigazzi and Lo Schermo dell’Arte team to produce and premiere the films at the Festival in 2026. An artist’s edition of each work will become part of the permanent collection of the project’s partner institutions, which are committed to promote and exhibit them in the following years.
The programme of the Festival’s 18th edition will consist of over 30 artists’ films and international documentaries on contemporary art presented as world and Italian premieres, in the presence of the authors. Randa Maroufi is the protagonist of the Focus On section that Lo Schermo dell’Arte dedicates every year to an artist who has distinguished themselves in the innovative and experimental use of cinematographic language. This year’s edition will feature works by Sven Augustijnen and Sammy Baloji, among others.
The artists honoured in the previous editions of the VISIO Production Fund are: Timoteus Anggawan Kusno, Abdessamad El Montassir, Andro Eradze, Gala Hernández López, Peng Zuqiang, Simon Liu, Valentin Noujaïm, Gerard Ortín Castellví, Maryam Tafakory, Yuyan Wang. The works produced with the Fund have been presented in institutions such as Tate Modern (London), MoMA and MoMA PS1 (New York), Kunsthalle Basel (Basel), Eye Filmmuseum (Amsterdam), Accademia di Francia a Roma – Villa Medici (Rome), among others, as well as in festivals like Berlin International Film Festival, Locarno Film Festival, International Film Festival Rotterdam, Visions du Réel (Nyon), and CPH:DOX (Copenhagen), among others.
Lo Schermo dell’Arte recently released VISIO—Moving Images in Europe since the 2010s, a publication that brings together visions, experiences, and critical interdisciplinary methodologies that have been instrumental in the development of the language of moving images since 2010. The book disseminates the results of over a decade of research and shared processes developed throughout the first twelve editions of VISIO.
The selection of the VISIO participants is realized in partnership with Careof (Milan), Cité internationale des arts (Paris), De Ateliers (Amsterdam), Delfina Foundation (London), Gasworks (London), Hangar (Barcelona), Künstlerhaus Bethanien (Berlin), Le Fresnoy-Studio national des arts contemporains (Tourcoing), Rijksakademie van beeldende kunsten (Amsterdam), Spike Island (Bristol), Städelschule (Frankfurt), Villa Romana (Florence), WIELS Contemporary Art Centre (Brussels).
The deadline to apply is Friday May 23, 2025. All information on the application process and conditions can be found at the following link.
Lo Schermo dell’Arte, directed by Silvia Lucchesi, is a non-profit arts organization born in Florence in 2008 dedicated to the exploration, analysis and promotion of the relationships between contemporary art, moving images and cinema. Among the international guest and artists of the past editions are: Yuri Ancarani, Dimitris Athiridis, Rosa Barba, Yael Bartana, Garrett Bradley, Sergio Caballero, Phil Collins, Jeremy Deller, Omer Fast, Forensic Architecture, Peter Greenaway, Runa Islam, Alfredo Jaar, Isaac Julien, Hassan Khan, Oliver Laric, Salvatore Lacagnina, Diego Marcon, John Menick, Sarah Morris, Rabih Mroué, Deimantas Narkevicius, Rosalind Nashashibi, Shirin Neshat, Melik Ohanian, Adrian Paci, Agnieszka Polska, Julian Rosefeldt, Roee Rosen, Amie Siegel, Simon Starling, Hito Steyerl, Hiroshi Sugimoto, Adam Szymczyk, Maryam Tafakory, The Otolith Group, Guido van der Werve.
Lo Schermo dell’Arte—Cinema and Contemporary Art Festival 18th edition
Florence, Cinema La Compagnia and other venues: November 12–16, 2025
Streaming on Lo Schermo dell’Arte’s digital channel with MYmovies ONE: November 12–24, 2025
Realized with the contribution of Comune di Firenze
Main supporter: Fondazione CR Firenze
In collaboration with: Fondazione In Between Art Film, Fondazione Palazzo Strozzi, Centro per l’arte contemporanea Luigi Pecci, FRAC Bretagne, MYmovies, Accademia di Belle Arti di Firenze, NYU Florence
Main sponsor: Gucci
Sponsor: Human Company, B&C Speakers
The festival is part of the programme 50 Days of Cinema in Florence.
