ARTE FIERA 48: PREVIEW FEBRUARY 6 2025

After celebrating a half-century of activity with a fantastic 2024 edition, marked by the return of large galleries and by many collectors, Arte Fiera looks to the future and confirms its growth under the leadership of Artistic Director Simone Menegoi and Managing Director Enea Righi.

The exhibition’s traditional halls (25 and 26), reconfirmed for 2025, will showcase the Italian scene: current and past artists, new and established galleries, publishers, critics and institutions. A complete panorama of which Arte Fiera is the most trusted interpreter, from post-war masters to emerging artists.

Exhibitors, sections and curators

After the return of galleries such as Apalazzo, Laveronica, Lia Rumma, Lorenzelli, Franco Noero, Ronchini, and Sprovieri in 2024 (confirmed for 2025 as well), Arte Fiera 2025’s 176 galleries include important new returns (such as Gió Marconi, Magazzino, Raffaella Cortese and Tucci Russo) and first-time foreign galleries such as Herald St.

Arte Fiera’s Main Section, divided as always into post-war and contemporary art, will be accompanied by four invitation-only curated sections: Photography and moving images, Multiples, Pittura XXI, and, making its debut, Prospettiva, devoted to emerging artists, whether represented by new or established galleries.

Photography and moving images will be curated for the third year by Giangavino Pazzola, curator of Camera - Centro Italiano per la Fotografia in Turin. For the second year, Multiples will be curated by Alberto Salvadori, critic and art historian. Davide Ferri, critic and independent curator specializing in contemporary painting, has curated Pittura XXI since its first edition. The debut of Prospettiva is entrusted to Michele D’Aurizio, curator and critic working in Italy and in the United States.

Alongside the curated sections there will again be Percorso: not really a section, but an itinerary that thematically links some of the stands in the Main Section and in the curated sections. After two years devoted to artistic forms (Ceramics in 2023 and Drawing in 2024), Percorso 2025 will also concern the content of the works: in fact, the new theme is “Community.” The format's new theme for 2025 - on which the partnership with Ducati is renewed - is the idea of "Community," as expressed by "Community: not "I" but "we."

15 exhibitors in the section dedicated to publishing and 13 exhibitors in the section dedicated to institutions complete the list of 204 exhibitors at Arte Fiera 2025, available at this link:

https://www.artefiera.it/en/arte-fiera-/exhibitors-list/9719.html?FROM=site

 

Public program and special projects

Opus Novum #7: Maurizio Nannucci

Every year since 2019, Arte Fiera has commissioned an Italian established artist to create a work to be presented at the fair. The series, named Opus Novum, was inaugurated by Flavio Favelli, followed by Eva Marisaldi (2020), Stefano Arienti (2021), Liliana Moro (2022), Alberto Garutti (2023), and Luisa Lambri (2024).

This year, the artist invited to create a new work for the fair is Maurizio Nannucci (b. 1939), an internationally renowned Italian artist since the 1960s. The author of sound and photographic works as well as artist books, Nannucci is known above all for his use of the word as artistic material, specifically in the form of neon writing for site-specific installations.

His contribution to the “Opus Novum” series is a work in edition: a high GSM paper shopper with YOU CAN IMAGINE THE OPPOSITE printed on its two main sides. A provocation – now more urgent than ever – to consider a radical alternative. Author, exhibition curator, collector, and even publisher of multiples (with Exempla, Zona Archives, and Recorthings, which he founded), Nannucci views serial production as a way to affirm the preeminence of the idea of the individual action and as an opportunity for the democratic propagation of art. An approach shared by Arte Fiera as demonstrated by the creation of Multiples, a specific section for works in edition.

Thanks to Pasin Bags for the technical partnership.

 

Book Talk

The 4^th edition of Book Talk, the series of conversations devoted entirely to art books, realized in partnership with BPER and curated by Guendalina Piselli, portrays the lively relationship between art and publishing, and its ability to stimulate great interest not only among professionals, but in the general public as well.

A full calendar of presentations during the fair offers recently published works – essays, artist books, catalogs, and monographs – presented by critics, scholars, artists.

The Talks include Marie De Brugerolle, art historian and curator, in conversation with Vincenzo Estremo, theorist of moving images, presenting “Post-Performance Future. Method/e” (T&P Publishing), a research project analyzing the impact and legacy of performance art on the visual arts.

A double presentation creates a dialog between the book “Re- materialization of language 1978-2022” by Cristiana Perrella, Andrea Viliani, and Vittoria Pavesi (NERO Editions), and the monograph “Tomaso Binga. Euforia” by Eva Fabbris, Lilou Vidal, and Stefania Zuliani with Anna Cuomo (Lenz press), presented by Cristiana Perrella and Eva Fabbris.

Another double presentation compares “Skank Bloc Bologna: Alternative Art Spaces since 1977” by Roberto Pinto and Francesca Spampinato (Mousse), and “Anni Novanta. Arti visive, moda e design” by Alessandra Acocella and Valentina Rossi (postmedia books). The speakers will link the history of non-profit exhibition spaces in Bologna from 1977 to today with the Italian creative scene in the 1990s.

“On Patterns” (Mousse) by Adelaide Cioni will be an opportunity to focus on the research of this artist, protagonist of Arte Fiera’s performance program in collaboration with Fondazione Furla. She will talk with Ilaria Puri Purini, author of the book’s texts, and with Daria Khan, Jennifer Higgie, Jareh Das, Agnieszka Gratza, and Cecilia Canziani.

 

Fondazione Furla

Arte Fiera renews its collaboration with Fondazione Furla for the live performance program curated by Bruna Roccasalva, the Foundation’s Artistic Director.

This year, the invited artist is Adelaide Cioni (b. Bologna,1976), who presents a performance created for the exhibition.

Adelaide Cioni’s work regards the origins of the sign. Although her research covers a wide range of expressive forms - including painting, literature, music, and theater - her starting point remains drawing.

At Arte Fiera 2025, Cioni presents Five Geometric Songs, a performance in which abstract geometric motifs become the visualization of rhythm in space by means of five costumes designed by the artist and worn by five dancers who perform to original music by Dom Bouffard.

The result of Cioni’s longtime focus on abstraction and color, on the origin of shape, and on the concept of patterns, the performance is both an evolution of a previous performance, Song for a Square, a Circle, a Triangle (2023) and a response to its specific location in Bologna: the Padiglione de l’Esprit Nouveau (1977), a faithful reproduction of an original design by Le Corbusier and Pierre Jeanneret for the 1925 Exposition International des Arts Décoratifs in Paris, exactly 100 years ago.

Thursday 6 February at 4, 5, 6 PM | Friday 7 February at 11 AM and 12 N | Saturday 8 and Sunday 9 February at 11 AM, 12 N, 1 PM Piazza Costituzione, 11, Bologna.

 

Awards

BPER Prize

The BPER Prize, devoted to enhancing feminine themes, is part of the BPER Group’s traditional efforts focused on inclusion and the fight against gender violence, united with the promotion of culture and art.

As in 2024 (the first year of the prize), BPER will acquire the winning work and display it in its exhibition spaces, thereby providing visibility to the work and to the artist after the conclusion of Arte Fiera.

The jury will be composed of Sabrina Bianchi, Head of Brand & Marketing Communication Service - Cultural Heritage and Corporate Collection BPER Gallery; Serena Morgagni, Director of Communications of BPER Banca; Caterina Riva, Director of MACTE - Museo di Arte Contemporanea di Termoli; Frida Carazzato, scientific curator at Museion - Museo d'arte moderna e contemporanea di Bolzano.

 

Marval Acquisition Award

Addressed primarily to emerging and mid-career artists, the Marval Acquisition Award consists of an acquisition to be added to the Marval Collection, a residency offered to the winning artist, and a targeted campaign on the Collection’s network to give the artist and gallery as much visibility as possible.

The jury will be composed of collectors Marco and Valeria Curina.

 

Officina Arte Ducati Award

Ducati confirms the Officina Arte Ducati Award, linked to Percorso, the itinerary that thematically connects a selection of galleries exhibiting at the fair. The format's new theme for 2025 - on which the partnership with Ducati is renewed - is the idea of "Community," as expressed by the sentence "Community: not "I" but "we." As in the previous edition, the jury will assign the Award to the work that best expresses Ducati’s brand values: speed, design research, innovation.

The wining work will become part of the corporate collection in Borgo Panigale, supported by the Fondazione Ducati, which, including through its involvement in Arte Fiera, confirms its commitment to the public by promoting numerous cultural, educational, and social initiatives.

The jury will be composed of Stefano Tarabusi, Design Manager Ducati Motor Holding; Andrea Bruciati, Director of Istituto Villa Adriana and Villa d’Este, Tivoli; Valentina Rossi, art historian, curator and lecturer.

 

Osvaldo Licini by Fainplast Award

The Osvaldo Licini by Fainplast Award stems from an idea by the Picena Contemporary Art Association with the collaboration of the City of Ascoli Piceno and the Fainplast Group.

The award is dedicated to Italian painting, with a selection method that involves about forty contemporary art professionals, including curators, critics, collectors, museum directors, and journalists, each of whom are requested to provide the name of two artists. In 2025, one of the five finalists will be chosen from the Pittura XXI section of Arte Fiera by a jury composed of Roberta Faraotti, collector; Bernardo Follini, Senior Curator Sandretto Re Rebaudengo Foundation, Turin; Pier Paolo Pancotto, independent curator.

Righi Collection Award

The aim of the Righi Collection Award, in its third edition in 2025, is to acquire a work at Arte Fiera that will be added to the collections of MAMbo - Museo d’Arte Moderna di Bologna, with specific focus on the work of recent generations of Italian artists.

Currently consisting of over a thousand works of the highest quality, the Righi Collection is one of Italy’s largest private collections of contemporary art.

The jury will be composed of Lorenzo Balbi, Artistic Director of MAMbo - Museo d’Arte Moderna di Bologna; Andrea Viliani, Director of Museo delle Civiltà, Rome; Bart van der Heide, Director of Museion - Museo d'arte moderna e contemporanea di Bolzano.

Rotary Award

Now in its 13^th consecutive edition, the Rotary Award is presented to the most creative installation at Arte Fiera 2025, whether a creation by an artist or the overall setup of a stand.

The Award consists of the Rotary Award Arte Fiera 2025 to gallery, Special Rotaract Bologna Award, and the Special “Andrea Sapone” award by Rotary Club Bologna Valle del Samoggia.

The jury will be composed of Davide Daninos, curator, critic, and Art Programme Leader, Marangoni Institute Florence; Giacomo Fontana, Chairman of Rotary Club Bologna Valle del Samoggia; Maura Pozzati, art critic and teacher at the Academy of Fine Arts, Bologna; Leonardo Regano, art historian and independent curator; Matteo Zauli, Director of Museo Carlo Zauli, Faenza.

The Collectors.Chain Prize by Art Defender

With The Collectors.Chain Prize, now in its 4^th edition, Art Defender confirms its collaboration with Arte Fiera as well as its special relationship with photography. This year as well, the winning work, selected from those exhibited in the Photography and Moving Images section, will become part of Art Defender’s corporate collection, emphasizing the company’s dedication to collecting and to photography in particular. The jury, composed exclusively of collectors, will once again be chaired by Walter Guadagnini, an internationally recognized photography expert. Together with Chiara Massimello and Katia Da Ros, collectors, and with Rischa Paterlini, independent curator, Guadagnini will select the work that best interprets the history of photography in terms of either continuity or innovation.

Collaborations and partnerships

Arte Fiera and BPER

BPER Banca, the Main Partner of Arte Fiera’s 2024 edition, has reconfirmed its commitment to the event for the next three years. This strengthens the bond between two organizations which, in their respective fields, are key players in Italy and abroad. By choosing to support Arte Fiera, BPER confirms it commitment to art and culture, convinced that they are essential for both local development and social inclusion.

Flash Art Italia Award

Arte Fiera hosts the Flash Art Italia Award, which considers Italy’s entire art ecosystem. The Award will give full value to artists, gallerists, museum directors, foundations, and independent spaces, as well as to territories, businesses, and relations between art and fashion, all with an innovative and unified viewpoint. The jury, chaired by Patrizia Sandretto Re Rebaudengo, includes art critics, curators, collectors, museum directors, and key cultural personalities: Andrea Bellini, Mariuccia Casadio, Maria Luisa Frisa, Luca Lo Pinto, Alessandro Rabottini, Enea Righi, Bruna Roccasalva, Pier Luigi Sacco.

The award ceremony will take place in Bologna on 7 February 2025, confirming Arte Fiera’s role as the reference point on the Italian art scene.

ART CITY Bologna

On 6 February, during Arte Fiera, the 13^th edition of ART CITY Bologna will be held: a program of exhibits and events that transforms the city into a stage for art, promoted by the City of Bologna and by BolognaFiere and coordinated by the Settore Musei Civici Bologna | Area Arte Moderna e Contemporanea, under the artistic direction of Lorenzo Balbi.

This year as well, the call for participation has generated an enormous response, with more than 250 proposals received from public and private bodies, confirming Bologna’s active artistic and cultural scene. The definitive program of selected exhibits and events will be on www.artcity.bologna.it starting on 1 February 2025.

The Special Program celebrates the ten Gates of the City, creating a circular itinerary of works and installations by Italian and foreign artists that dialog with the history of Bologna, its social evolutions, and its morphological and cultural changes. The participating artists are Fatma Bucak, Francesco Cavaliere, Valentina Furian, Gabrielle Goliath, Judith Hopf, Franco Mazzucchelli, Susan Philipsz, Angelo Plessas, Andrea Romano, and Dread Scott, plus Derek MF Di Fabio with a performance in movement.

ART CITY Bologna’s program naturally includes ART CITY White Night on Saturday 8 February: the public will be able to enjoy art and performances all night throughout the city, with cultural and commercial operators open until midnight.

 

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