ABOUT US

Ramdom is an organisation devoted to cultural and artistic production and it is based in Gagliano del Capo (LE, Italy). It was founded in 2011 by

Paolo Mele and Luca Coclite with the aim of providing international projection to contemporary art projects produced in dialogue with the local territory of Salento. Over the past seven years activities have included exhibitions, public art productions, residencies and workshops, plus two ongoing research focused endeavours, Investigation of Extreme Lands and DEFAULT.

In 2016 it launched Until the End of the Sea Residency program dedicated to under 35 artists and curators.

Ramdom’s headquarter, Lastation, is located on the first floor of a still active railway station (Gagliano – Leuca ) in Southeast Italy and it host a Media Library, a residency room and an open space for exhibitions and performances.

OPERATIVE OFFICE

Paolo Mele

Director & Founder

Founder of Ramdom together with Luca Coclite, he is PhD in Communication & New Technologies at the IULM University of Milan and a visiting researcher at The New School of New York (USA), Paolo is cultural and digital project manager. He has worked with various international organizations, such as the World Bank, New Art Exchange, Veronesi Foundation, Chivasso Foundation. He was project manager for the BJCEM Biennale of Young Artists from Mediterranean Europe from 2008 to 2012. In 2006, he founded and coordinated the Observatory for Communication Policies (OCP) at the University of Salento. He is currently one of the project managers of Matera Capital of Culture 2019.

Annapaola Presta

Project Manager & Administration

Annapaola Presta has a degree in Cultural Heritage and a master’s degree in Communication and Event Creation from the University of Florence. She has a professional background in the field of contemporary art, working as an assistant at the Florence University of Arts, a wide-ranging international environment that has allowed her to interact and confront herself with European and overseas artists. She has collaborated with public and private bodies for the realization of cultural and social promotion events.

Claudio Zecchi

Curator & Networking Development

Claudio Zecchi is an independent curator whose research is aimed at investigating new visions and readings of the public sphere analyzing the relationship between the practices, the territory and the local communities. He was part of the curatorial team of the Biennale of Young Artists from Mediterranean Europe (Ancona, 2013). His research project, which mainly investigates discursive formats, took place at Fabbrica del Vapore, Milan (Italy, 2014); Residency Unlimited, NYC (U.S.A. 2015); New Art Exchange, Nottingham (U.K 2016); Pivô Pesquisa, São Paulo (BRA, 2017); TOKAS_Tokyo Arts and Space, Tokyo (JAP, 2018). From 2018 he joined Ramdom. In 2019 he has been one of the advisors of Premio Bonaldi Prize for the art dedicated to curator under 30. The Prize has been conceived by GAMeC with the support of the Bonaldi Group. From 2018 he is curator at Ramdom.

Désirée Haupts

Chief Communications Officer

Désirée Haupts is an experienced communication strategist, storyteller and content creator. She’s fluent in 6 languages and demonstrates significant experiences in the diplomatic field, the private and public sector as well as in NGOs. She has worked as a creative and communication consultant in Zürich, Lugano, Milan, Barcelona, Lisbon, Abu Dhabi and Dubai, with numerous projects including distinguished partners such as the Swiss Embassy of the United Arab Emirates and Bahrain, Dubai Expo 2020; the Swiss Confederation, the Federal Department of Defense and the Federal Department of Foreign Affairs, Ticino Turismo, Vitra, the Swiss Italian University USI and many others. Her short films have been nominated in the official selections of acclaimed international festivals; she shared the stage at the NIFF Symposium with Lucasfilm manager Scott Ross and collaborated with 4-times Academy Awards winner Marc Berger. She is currently the winner and holder of the Swiss FilmPlus Fund for the development and scriptwriting of an animated fantasy feature film for children.

Simona Casarano

Education

Graduated in Conservation of Cultural Heritage, she obtained a Master in Conservation and Restoration of Contemporary Art at the OPD in Florence and attended a course in Conservation and Restoration of Photography at Fratelli Alinari, also in Florence.
Between 2005 and 2010 he worked on the reorganization of the Archivio Etnomusicale P.Sassu in Spongano. In the same years he had short working experiences in the restoration of photographs between Palermo and Florence.
He cultivates a personal interest in pedagogy and since 2018 is responsible for the Education part of the Observatory on the Extreme Lands for Ramdom.

BOARD

WORK WITH US

For current open position refer to the section WORK WITH US.

Ramdom is constantly evolving: we welcome new collaborations with organizations and people motivated to engage in cultural and artistic production, international mobility, research and development of new languages of communication.

If you would like to join us or present a project to us, please contact us at: [email protected]
If you want to collaborate with us, send us an e-mail, specifying in the subject “collaboration” and attaching your CV.

We will get back to you as soon as possible.