New Producers in Residence: Laura Sweeney and Giulia Casalini

LADA is delighted to announce that Giulia Casalini and Laura Sweeney will be the next resident producers. This initiative is part of LADA's Next Steps Scheme for emerging Live Art administrators and producers.

Giulia Casalini 

“The producer’s residency at LADA was the key to unlocking my fears towards becoming an independent curator and producer. I had always wanted to take my practice to new and exciting territories but lacked the support that I needed. It is a privilege to be given the space and time to critically reflect on all that I have achieved so far and where I want to take my career. LADA’s endless resources, the expertise, generosity and warmth of its team, and their ever-expanding network, give me the confidence that I will materialize some of my most ambitious plans.”

Giulia Casalini is an independent curator based in London, holding an MA in Visual Cultures from Goldsmiths University (London). Since 2012 she is the co-director of the non-profit arts organization CUNTemporary (Arts Feminism Queer), and producer of the multidisciplinary exhibition and live art programme Deep Trash, which has been running since 2014. She is also the founder of Archivio Queer Italia, the first platform for queer arts, theory and activism in Italy.

Giulia Casalini specialises in curating multidisciplinary exhibitions and events for institutions and alternative spaces, with a focus on live art and audience participation. Her curatorial practice engages with artists and work of a complex and challenging nature. Recent projects include: Transformer: Aspects of Travesty, Richard Saltoun Gallery (London, 2014); Teoremi Performance Festival, Villa Croce (Genoa, 2014); organizational member for Now You Can Go (The Showroom, ICA, Space Studios, Raven Row, 2015); Cosí Fan Tutte, ArtVerona (Verona, 2016). Upcoming: Wellcome Trust funded exhibition Transitional States: Hormones at the Crossroads of Art and Science (touring: Lincoln, London, Bologna, Barcelona, 2017-2018).  

cuntemporary.org

Laura Sweeney

‘The opportunity to be in residence at LADA couldn’t have come at a better time. It’s been a tough year for the arts and the impact on independent artists has been catastrophic. With the LADA team and artists, I hope to question the realistic future of touring work alongside the very real pressure placed on artists to shoulder all the risk – there must be something better for us. I’m also really looking forward to having the time to think about my career with mentoring and support – at the moment it seems almost impossible to schedule that in without feeling bad for not replying to more emails!’

Laura Sweeney is an independent producer working with artists across performance disciplines, with a focus on artist development, strategic planning and marketing. Current projects include Catherine Hoffmann's Free Lunch with the StenchWench, Geraldine Pilgrim's Sitting Comfortably and The Missing Passenger (National Railway Museum), Greg Wohead's Comeback Special and Nando Messias' Shoot the Sissy.

Laura also works in an advisory capacity on marketing campaigns, organisational development, strategic planning and artist development. She has recently worked in this way with Chelsea Theatre, Art of Disappearing, Jacky Lansley, Alexandrina Hemsley, Map Consortium and Project O. She is also a board member for Home Live Art.

Before going freelance, Laura was Executive Producer at Chisenhale Dance Space where she led the organisation to celebrate their 30th year of boundary-pushing work and helped to continue its legacy of importance in the dance and wider sectors.

laurasweeney.co.uk
@laurajsweeney