Endless Residency: Book on Artist Mobility Published by Viafarini and Postmedia Books

The Endless Residency project by Viafarini in Milan has become a publication, collecting initial findings from an observatory on artistic mobility. Edited by Postmedia Books, the volume features interviews with authors Caterina Angelucci and Giulio Verago. The book traces the evolution of artist mobility from the 1990s, when technological advances and the rise of extra-European art scenes created new platforms for artist-researchers. Mobility shifted from sporadic experiences to essential career steps. In Italy, a fragmented but lively scene emerged, with independent spaces opening debates in the 1990s, followed by prizes and research grants from the 2000s onward. After Brexit and the pandemic, residencies relocated from major cities to smaller centers, fostering generational renewal. The book highlights Italy's delay in institutional support for mobility, despite deep roots in patronage and enlightened entrepreneurship. Today, residencies serve as project accelerators or platforms for research and dialogue, with hybrid and nomadic models gaining ground. The project plans future editorial content and dispatches, aiming to increase visibility for the Italian scene through partnerships like Res Artis. The authors hope for new support tools to bridge the gap with international best practices.