The Academy of Fine Arts is a public university for the study of visual arts. It is an institution included in the university sector (MIUR), in the field of Higher Education in Art, Music and Dance (AFAM).
The professor. Vittorio Politano is the director of the Academy of Fine Arts of Catanzaro, who took office on the appointment of the Minister of Education, University and Research on 1 November 2017, after the election that saw the unanimity of the professors of the Artistic University, vote for him.
Director, tell us about your projects for the Academy of Fine Arts in Catanzaro
Two years have passed since the beginning of my mandate as Director of the Academy of the Calabrian capital. We are working on the convergence of several Bodies, AFAM Institutions and Universities, on the basis of the provisions of N. 508/99. We want to encourage the establishment of a national polytechnic of the arts, in order to initiate integrated actions of didactic activity, artistic and musical production, research and academic experimentation of character regional, national and international. The Free Nude School and that of Landscape which are open to the enrollment of workers or those who cannot afford the ordinary attendance of lessons and therefore with evening courses.
Our students are involved and prepared to participate in national and international art and design competitions and awards. They often turn out to be winners. The Academy of Fine Arts of Catanzaro is also a particularly complex institution. The rich patrimony of works of art and documents that it preserves, constitutes a fundamental place for the study of the arts and on the arts in Catanzaro and in the Calabria region. The Academy of Catanzaro is a recognized center of excellence ofHigh Artistic Education, capable of also determining a brake on the educational emigration of young Calabrians to other regions.
The Academy of Catanzaro awarded the Honorary Diploma to the artist from Catanzaro Mimmo Rotella, to the musician Paolo Conte and the photographer Aurelius Amendola.
The seat of the Academy of Fine Arts
The main seat of the Academy of Fine Arts of Catanzaro of about 3 thousand square meters. It is located in via Tripoli at the corner of via Gelso Bianco in the ancient “Carmine” district, in the building called “Ex Educandato” formerly Palazzo Fiorentino-Scoppa. The site houses the management, the student secretariat, the museum, the digital library, the services for users, the Design and Applied Arts department. It welcomes schools from: Scenography; Fashion Design; Jewel design; Graphic design. The School of Artistic design for the company; Computer Games. The School of New Technologies for Art; School of Directing and the Department of Art Education with the School of Pedagogy and Didactics of Art.
The headquarters is divided into four buildings and eleven different levels which can be accessed from five different entrances. The main entrance is that of via Gelso Bianco. An internal staircase, of particular architectural value, has been restored. All the restructuring and restoration interventions were designed by the Angotti and Tomassi studios and carried out respecting the original architectural features.
The former boarding school represents one of the most beautiful real estate assets in the historic center of Catanzaro. It is based on an older core that has developed over the years following a variety of styles. From the imposing windows, one of the many views of Villa Trieste extends beyond the trees and buildings towards the sea, the inlet that runs along the Gulf of Squillace towards Isola Capo Rizzuto, becoming a great embrace in the Ionian Sea. The students of the Academy of Fine Arts of Catanzaro, who nourish themselves with beauty to grow in their studies and training, will enjoy this panorama every day.
The courses of the Academy
In the various curricula of the Schools, in addition to the theoretical subjects, we find teaching laboratories of excellence. Practical training places for the generations of artists of the future. The Academy of Fine Arts of Catanzaro today is projected forward, towards the future, to better respond to its institutional mission of higher education in terms of teaching, research, experimentation, innovation and production in the field of the arts. Just think of the activities of 3d modeling, rendering and digital illustration techniques.
New techniques and technologies
New techniques and latest generation technologies useful for the acquisition and digitization of the state of places, find application in archaeological sites. Censoring and digitally archiving each element, drawing up a complete and precise documentation, with virtual models with millimeter accuracy, translates into practical terms in the possibility of being able to faithfully recover, monitor, restore or replicate. It will in fact be possible to preserve the original state of the works, and to remember them, thus avoiding the loss of unique and detailed architectural elements of our archaeological heritage.
Furthermore, the material acquired eventually becomes useful for the creation of virtual museums and virtual tours for online use and viewing, to the advantage of cultural and tourist advertising. I mention another course, that of Computer Games belonging to the School of New Technologies for Art, to say how we are in step with the times, with the creation of video games, a tool that allows us to get in touch with other universes.
Thanks to technological support it is therefore possible to experience something that goes far beyond the real world. All this thanks also to the great expansion of the training offer and to the increasingly close relationships established with public and private institutions.
The Jewerly Design course
The Course of Jewelry Design, belongs to the School of Artistic Design for the company inserted in the Department of Design and Applied Arts. It has, first of all, the objective of ensuring an adequate mastery of artistic methods and techniques. But also the acquisition of specific disciplinary and professional skills to provide knowledge and design and expressive methodologies in the use of tools, representation and artistic practices, with particular attention to industrial design and jewelery design.
The Fashion Design course
Or the Fashion Design Course, set up to answer a question posed by the school and local educational reality. Calabria boasts a centuries-old tradition inart of weaving and fashion. But there can be no creativity and innovation without culture and knowledge.
A privileged place and delegated to "doing artistic", the Academy of Catanzaro sets itself the ambitious goal of forming the new pictures of the production of the image, synthetically, not only, that is, in the vast field of figurative arts, but also for that which concerns creativity applied to the use of new media, advertising graphics, design, photography, cinema and television.
The training peculiarity of the Academies, consisting of the "common language" of theoretical, planning and laboratory knowledge, is integrated and updated to the new socio-cultural and labor market needs, guaranteeing the possibility of strengthening the training-work connection. In this way, the links of our reformed Institutes with other university institutions, businesses and intellectual workplaces are ensured. Finally, interconnections are established with both humanistic and technical-scientific university faculties, as well as collaborations with companies in the technological and telecommunications sectors or with institutions responsible for the protection, enhancement and safeguarding of heritage.
The Institution I manage has distinguished itself in the past for direct territorial experiences. Events of social integration, environmental support, support for gender and social dynamics, projects to support legality. It is a priority and a mission to prepare students from fragile, underdeveloped and marginalized regions. The Academy's programs and methods are planned to ensure students have adequate preparation, both from a socio-cultural point of view and from a language proficiency point of view.
Does the Academy of Fine Arts of Catanzaro collaborate with other organizations?
In recent years, collaborations with public and private organizations and companies have multiplied to allow all our students to do particularly formative internships and internships. My management has placed particular importance on the process of internationalization of studies and academic experiences. The exchange of students and teachers from other international institutions has been increased through both the Socrates and Erasmus projects and the Turandot project, which has also opened the doors to relations with the Eastern world, in particular with China.
This Institute intends to internationalize the academic system by entering into bilateral and multilateral agreements with European institutions. The aim is to promote and foster the international dimension of studies and teaching with European and Asian institutions. The geographical area of reference in Europe is Portugal, Spain, Germany, England, France, Poland, Turkey and Malta. The possibility of directing mobility also towards institutions in areas of Asia, such as Japan, China, India and Korea, is not excluded. These exchanges will strongly focus on enhancing each other's study, training and research opportunities.
At the end of the course, the Diploma Supplement is also issued upon request. The "DS". It is a document established by the European Commission, the Council of Europe and Unesco within the work of the Bologna Process, to facilitate the dissemination of qualifications in the European and international context. I also want to inform possible users that the Academy of Catanzaro is also AICA Test Center, Italian Association for Informatics and Automatic Calculation.
Thank you for the time you have dedicated to us
Thanks to her for the sensitivity shown and for the space that her magazine wanted to dedicate to the Academy of Fine Arts in Catanzaro. I also thank all his collaborators. Allow me to also greet all the Italians around the world. Thanks again and good luck with your work.
