ABOUT HANDS-ON
Hands-on is a platform for visual art, cultural practice, and critical exchange, rooted in the belief that artistic work can act as both method and site of resistance. Initiated as a nomadic curatorial project focused on temporary, site-specific exhibitions, it has since grown into an expanded ecosystem that includes a digital editorial programme and an online residency, both fostering translocal dialogue, embodied knowledge, and collective reflection.
At its core, Hands-on is committed to unsettling dominant cultural frameworks and epistemologies, particularly those shaped by Eurocentric, colonial, and extractive systems of thought. Through interdisciplinary and collaborative formats, it seeks to amplify practices that engage with memory, displacement, situated narratives, and the politics of visibility.
In 2025, Hands-on expands its curatorial scope through the launch of new initiatives and the opening of its physical venue in Milan’s Lambrate district. This space functions as a point of convergence for experimental practices, public programming, and context-responsive research—where artistic inquiry becomes a tool for reimagining forms of belonging, resistance, and cultural continuity.
OUR PROGRAMMES
H-O Residency
Hands-on Residency is a two-month online initiative offering time, space, and support for creative and professional growth. Rooted in dialogue and critical exchange, it brings together a cohort of visual artists engaged in expanding their practice and challenging established narratives. Guided by artists and cultural practitioners, the programme culminates in a collective exhibition in Milan—a moment of gathering, reflection, and public encounter.
H-O Journal
Hands-on Journal is a digital editorial initiative shaped by contributions from artists, writers, and cultural thinkers. Each issue opens a window onto practices that question structures of knowledge and power—through essays, interviews, and reflections that map counter-histories, cultural resistance, and situated forms of knowing. The journal acts as a discursive space where writing becomes a tool for reimagining what and who culture is for.
H-O Radio
Hands-on Radio is a collective sound platform that brings together voices, rhythms, and stories from across geographies. Through mixes, spoken word, and experimental compositions, it invites listeners to engage with memory, struggle, and identity beyond dominant frequencies. Here, sound becomes both archive and action—connecting bodies and communities through listening, resonance, and imagination.
H-O Flick
Hands-on Flick is a curated streaming channel dedicated to moving image works that spark critical awareness and cultural dialogue. From short films and animations to documentaries and experimental video, it gathers works from independent creators and collectives committed to using film as a tool for sharing knowledge, opening political questions, and rethinking the visual archive.
The aim of Hands-on, through its various segments and programs, is to create a platform that serves as an incubator for voices, ideas, perspectives, and thoughts, with the goal of spreading knowledge and promoting culture in a broader sense. Each program is designed to thrive thanks to the contributions of artists, filmmakers, soundmakers, thinkers, and creatives, in order to build a wider, more accessible community that fosters the sharing of knowledge. The open calls are therefore intended to collect the work of anyone who wishes to share and disseminate it with us.