On November 21, 2024, CDHM welcomed speaker Federica Martini to present on HEAD - Genève's practice and theory based program, its themes on the intersection between technology and design, as well as related work involving the archival and instititional history of international Geneva. Discussion involved how the CDHM and HEAD - Genève might collaborate in and outside of the classroom on future projects. See more detail below.
Abstract: The intervention consists of two proposals that explore the relationship between aesthetic and geopolitical aspects of the Palais des Nations and other international organizations.
1) Research Proposal: This proposal traces the genealogy of aesthetic gifts to the Palais des Nations back to two earlier examples: the gifts to the Peace Palace in The Hague and those offered to the ILO/Centre William Rappard. Using a comparative approach, the proposal aims to examine the aesthetic and political dimensions of giving artistic and design gifts to international organization buildings (aesthetic and political negotiations, contexts of production and display, controversies). It will investigate how these gifts contribute to the visualization of political transactions held at these venues.
2) Workshop Proposal: This proposal focuses on the archives of the Palais des Nations, specifically the Institutional Memory section and the archives of gifts to the ILO at the Centre William Rappard. The workshop will center on aesthetic gifts and will invite artists who have previously engaged in art projects related to the archives of these two institutions.
Bio: Federica Martini, PhD, is an art historian and curator. She is Associate Professor UAS and Head of the CCC – Critical Curatorial Cybermedia Research Master Program at the HEAD - Genève, Hes-so). She has been a member of the curatorial departments of the Castello di Rivoli Museum of Contemporary Art and MCBA/Lausanne, a fellow at the Istituto Svizzero di Roma (2015-16) and of TrAIN (The Research Centre for Transnational Art, Identity and Nation, UAL, London, 2022). Her research includes the history of identity exhibitions and the geopolitics of art biennials (Just Another Exhibition: Stories and Politics of Biennials, 2011 ; Pavilions: Art in Architecture, 2013), archival practices (Feminist exposures: pratiques féministes de l'archive et de l'exposition, 2022), oral history (ITOW - In their own words, HEAD/Hes-so, 2023-24) and the production of migrant knowledges (sic) (Vedi alla Voce, 2015).