About

Careof was founded in 1987 in Cusano Milanino by the will of Mario Gorni and Zefferina Castoldi with the aim of promoting artistic research, cataloging and archiving contemporary art materials (artist portfolio, video, photographs, books and catalogs), offering to the public the consultation of the acquired assets.

Ten years after its birth, Careof consolidates its activities thanks to the support of the Municipality of Milan, which will take it a few years later to move his base to Milan.

In 2006 Careof’s Video Archive and Photographic Archive is recognized Historical Archive of national relevance by the Ministery of Italian Culture.

Careof in 2008 opens a new place at Fabbrica del Vapore in Milan. This occasion - from the collaboration between Careof and Viafarini, which began in 1995 - gave birth to DOCVA Documentation Center for Visual Arts, which starts an educational program and research based program, working in synergy with Academies of Fine Arts and Universities.

In 2011 Careof begins the new residency project at Fabbrica del Vapore, the FDV Residency Program which continues today.

What is Careof? What does it want to become? In 2017 Careof rethinks its role, objectives and strategies. It is the challenge that the organization has chosen to run when it has decided not to close, but to start again. A new team of professionals and new guidelines are born to renew the Careof project after almost thirty years of history.

Reconfirmed at 2019 the headquarter at Fabbrica del Vapore, thanks to the recent grant by the City Council, Careof has chosen to open up to new collaborators that support its activity: GISTO design studio; AUT designer and communication studio; Elianto Film Production and the new Art Bookshop run by Kunstverein Milan Professionals with whom Careof have chosen to create a platform (Careof LAB) that can respond to the needs of artists in the first place, but also companies and individuals.

MAIN ACTIVITIES:

PRODUCTION

Careof promotes and fosters the production of emerging artists. In thirty years of activity, it has organized, produced over 500 exhibitions, both personal and collective shows, giving space to new experiments and creating a structured dialogue between Italian reality and international panorama.

DOCUMENTATION

Archiving, preserving and disseminating contemporary art materials is one of Careof’s main vocations. The collected heritage containing materials from the 70s to today - photographs, artist videos, video-documentation, catalogs, specialized magazines, artist’s portfolio - can be consulted on site. 

EDUCATION

In order to promote the knowledge of contemporary art Careof organizes presentations, workshops and meetings of artists, curators, writers, thinkers, teachers etc; creates space for courses, internships and educational activities in collaboration with schools and universities.

INTERNATIONAL EXCHANGES

The FDV Residency Program for creative people, which ended in 2018, promoted culture and international exchanges, in dialogue with the territory and its many audiences. It was opened to professionals from the visual arts, design, architecture, photography, music, performance and dance. In the last three years, Careof has developed projects with international partners such as Bétonsalon (Paris), MeetFactory (Prague), National Museum in Krakow, Screen Space (Melbourne), CASCO (Utrecht), CCA Kronika in Bytom, Kim? Contemporary Art Center (Riga), Tent Academy (Rotterdam), Kunstraum Walcheturm (Zurich), XI Gwangju Biennale.

COLLABORATIONS

Thanks to the prestige gained in more than thirty-five years of experience in the field of contemporary art,
Careof develops projects, exhibitions and events integrating the mission and needs of the companies. It offers contacts with young and established artists and realises both exhibitions and works in line with the company’s values. It also organises workshops and events with artists for employers or clients; the supply of works and multiples for the company; the curatorship of events through our spaces and tools.

CORPORATE

Thanks to the prestige gained in thirty years of experience in the field of contemporary art, Careof develops projects, exhibitions and events integrated with the mission and needs of individual companies. Since 2011 it has worked with companies such as Sky Italia, Crédit Agricole, Studio Avvocati Cocuzza, Il Sole 24 hours, AIIC International Association of Conference Interpreters, Eni, Campsites, Rotary Club Milano Villoresi, Fomas Group, Fideuram. Offering direct contact with young or established artists, it realizes exhibitions at the company headquarters; production of works in line with the company’s values; workshops with artists dedicated to employers or clients; the supply of works and multiples for the company; the curatorship of events through our spaces and tools.

Link to collaborations: https://careof.org/chi-siamo/collaborazioni

The Video Archive, the Photographic Archive and the Library house carefully cataloged materials, precious tools for understanding the evolution of contemporary art and for developing exhibition and research projects. A treasure trove freely available to the public at Careof’s headquarters. In particular, the video archive houses more than 9000 titles, including documentations and works of art_ and, for this reason, it is rightly considered one of the most important Italian collections, as the Ministry of Culture itself has certified.
In many cases, the fund preserves the entire video production of artists who continuously and systematically deliver their works to Careof. The relevance of the Archive has increased over time with the donations of entire filmographies of important authors, including Ugo La Pietra, Umberto Bignardi, Gianfranco Baruchello and Alberto Grifi, or of organizations such as the Cavallino di Venezia. It also contains documentation of important lectures and seminars by national and international artists and events such as the well-known exhibitions and
Biennales.
The preserved materials are usable and Careof is constantly working on the implementation of research methods within its archive, thus facilitating consultation for scholars and artists, on site as well as online.
The centrality of the archive is also testified by the numerous invitations that curators have received over the years from various institutions such as the Museo del Novecento in Milan, the Museo Macro in Rome, the Museo MAXXI in Rome, the Discoteca di Stato in Rome, and the PAN in Naples. On these occasions, Careof’s experience in the field of valorisation, conservation and dissemination of the materials it holds has become a case study.

Careof LAB is a network of experts with different and transversal skills, from contemporary art to typedesign, from photography to architecture and visual communication.

Careof LAB is sharing, divulgation, digression and didactics through workshops, meetings, book presentations, cineforums, open to the public.

Careof LAB is a hub for the production of new creative and cultural contents, through the building of relationships with other realities and the presentation of a constantly developing programmes.

Careof LAB is a fluid and multiform group, composed of those who now inhabit the Careof space: the design studio GISTO; the design and communication studio AUT Design Collective; the photographer Diego Mayon; the production agency Hotel Production; the design collective Hypereden; Emanuele Zamponi, art director, photographer and videomaker; the visual communication studio of Silvia Sfligiotti; the photographer and video maker Filippo Spinelli Barrile; the photographer Chiara Goia.

TRAM:

10 V.le Lunigiana - XXIV Maggio / XXIV Maggio - V.le Lunigiana Stop: Via Procaccini Via Nono, 160 m

12 Roserio - V.le Molise / V.le Molise - RoserioStop: P.le Cim.Monumentale Via Bramante, 300 m

14 Cim. Maggiore - Lorenteggio / Lorenteggio - Cim. MaggioreStop: P.le Cim.Monumentale Via Bramante, 300 m

BUS:

43 Piazza Greco - Piazza FirenzeStop: C.so Sempione Via Procaccini, 800 m

notturna: N25 Centrale FS M2 M3 - Cadorna FN M1 M2 Stop: Via Procaccini Via Nono, 160 m

METRO:

M2 fermata Garibaldi 1,1 km

M5 fermata Cenisio 400 m

TRENI: Garibaldi FS M2 M5 - 1,1 kmS13S5S6

Centrale FS M1 M2 - 2,7 kmMalpensa express binario 1

Cadorna FN M1 M2, 2,4kmMalpensa express binario 1

BIKE SHARING:

BikeMI 189 - Procaccini . Cimitero Monumentale, 300 m

BikeMi 238 - Govone - Borgese, 1,3 km

BikeMi 197 - Garibaldi - Sturzo, 1 km

Bicycle parking spaces are available inside the Fabbrica del Vapore courtyard

In addition to the regular activity focused on exhibitions, workshops and events dedicated to contemporary art, Careof's spaces inside Fabbrica del Vapore are suitable as a venue for corporate and private events, with conditions to be defined according to the specific needs of those involved.

Dimensions: 160 square metres

Electrical plant power: 35000 w

Direct access from the Fabbrica del Vapore courtyard

and, for information, write to careof@careof.org.

Marta Bianchi, president and co-director — marta.bianchi@careof.org

Marta Cereda, co-director and curator — marta.cereda@careof.org

Francesca Peschiera, co-ordination — careof@careof.org

Giacomo Raffaelli, ArteVisione advisor — giacomo.raffaelli@careof.org

Starting from 12/04/2022, the board of directors is composed of Marta Bianchi, Riccardo Berrone, Marta Cereda, Alessio D'Ellena, Alessandro Nassiri with a three-year term of office.
As per the articles of association, the offices are free of charge.

The following are members_ of Careof:
Mario Gorni, honorary president and head of the Historical Archive; Matteo Balduzzi; Marta Bianchi; Riccardo Berrone; Marta Cereda; Alessio D'Ellena; Marta Ferretti; Alessandro Mason; Diego Mayon; Alessandro Nassiri.

In 2022, APS Careof received from:

Lombardy Region: annual contributions for the three-year period 2022/2024 for the realisation of cultural educational promotion activities: €30,000

Ministry of Culture: DGCC: Italian Council call (XI ed): 69,876.90 euro

Download the memorandum of association here.

Download articles of association here.