About

Careof is a non-profit organization for contemporary art. Founded in 1987, it fosters creativity and artistic experimentation in all its forms and expressions. It is a place of inspiration and comparison for young artists and encourages research through exhibitions, screenings, workshops, lectures and hybrid projects, through the exhibition space, the Video Archive and a program of international residences.

Careof is a fluid and dynamic space. It encourages research and supports cultural production through exhibitions, screenings, workshops, conferences and hybrid projects, thanks to its exhibition space, library, Photographic Archive and Video Archive, one of the most important Italian collections from the 1970s to the present day, with over 9,000 titles, which is constantly expanding.

Careof is a time-based media production and research centre: it produces, exhibits, catalogues, conserves and promotes works related to the moving image, in a dimension of circular enhancement.

"At a time when the culture of doubt is finally triumphing, we are at least certain of one thing: what we want to deal with is the production of contemporary art in all the nuances in which it manifests itself, information on what is emerging, understanding and reflection on the assumptions underlying contemporary art making, which express the existential condition of the human being at this end of the century. What we are concerned with is activating the process of exchange in a situation of complexity and in a condition of doubt. It is, in the words of Italo Calvino, to 'seek in the midst of hell what is not hell, and give it space and duration'."

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.

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.