ARTE FIERA CELEBRATES ITS 50TH BIRTHDAY

It all began back in 1974, when BolognaFiere decided to create a small section devoted to modern and contemporary art within what was then called the Trade Fair. It was an immediate success: the first edition had only ten galleries; a year later, there were 200.

1974-2024: an anniversary that no other Italian art fair has yet reached and that few fairs in foreign countries have exceeded. This anniversary is so important that the Ministry for Business and Made in Italy will celebrate it by issuing a stamp.

Arte Fiera is celebrating its 50th birthday by focusing on its origins: the first, pioneering editions that in just a few years made it an international event. In 2024, the public program will take a look at events, personalities, works, and publications from those years, starting from the fair’s foundation in 1974. By doing this, it will also celebrate the ‘70s in Bologna, an extraordinary decade in which the city was at the vanguard in visual arts, architecture, and in conceiving new forms of relations among art, politics, and society. The creation of Arte Fiera was both a cause and an effect of those years, arising from the city’s innovative and bold environment and immediately giving it an essential stimulus.

Exhibitors, sections, curators

Arte Fiera 2024 picks up the thread of the fortunate 2023 edition, hailed by the press as a rebirth, welcomed by collectors, attended by visitors in pre-pandemic numbers. The location, the same as in the previous edition (Halls 25 and 26, two of the Bologna Fair District’s most elegant spaces, traditionally associated with the Fair), and 2023’s winning collaborations (starting with the one between Simone Menegoi as Artistic Director and Enea Righi, renowned manager and collector, as Managing Director) have been confirmed.

There will be 196 exhibitors at Arte Fiera 2024 (see the complete list at: https://www.artefiera.it/catalogo/espositori-2024/5547.html).

We welcome the return of the Apalazzo, Laveronica, Lia Rumma, Lorenzelli Arte, Franco Noero, Ronchini, and Sprovieri Galleries.

The Main Section, divided as always into post-war and contemporary art, will be accompanied by three curated, invitation-only sections: Photography and moving images, Pittura XXI, and Multiples, which presents works published in edition, ranging from artist books to design.

Pittura XXI will again be curated by Davide Ferri, critic and independent curator, while Photography and moving images is entrusted for the second time to Giangavino Pazzola, curator of di Camera - Centro italiano per la fotografia (Turin). Multiples will have a new curator: critic and art historian Alberto Salvadori.

In addition to the curated sections, there will again be Percorso: not really a section, but, as the name implies, an itinerary that thematically links some of the stands in the Main Section. This year, Percorso’s theme will be a universal language that unites artists of different generations and styles: design. For the 2024 edition, Percorso is supported by an excellent partner, linked to Bologna but famous worldwide: Ducati. The prestigious motorcycle brand has chosen to merge a format whose name expresses the concept of mobility and dynamism with a theme – drawing – that includes the dimension of design, fundamental for its identity.

Public program e special project

This year, Opus Novum, the commission of a new work by a successful Italian artist, will go to Luisa Lambri, an internationally famous Italian artist whose medium is the photographic image. Known mainly for her images of modernist architecture, so essential that they approach abstraction, Lambri’s commission links two building that symbolize 1970s architecture in Bologna: Alvar Aalto’s Church of Santa Maria Assunta (Assumption of Mary) in Rioladi Vergato (BO), Alvar Aalto’s only permanent work in Italy, completed in 1976, and the Padiglione de L’Esprit Nouveau, the replica of a temporary architectural work by Le Corbusier from 1925, built at the entrance to the Fair District in 1977. From Aalto’s Church, Lambri presents some unpublished images; from the Padiglione are suggestions for other shots from various stages of her career, which along with the unpublished images will form an exhibit in the Padiglione entitled L’Esprit Nouveau.

In addition, Arte Fiera 2024 will reveal the second and final part of the previous Opus Novum commission assigned to Alberto Garutti: a plaque permanently affixed to the main entrance of the Fair District bearing the inscription, in Italian and in English, “All the

steps I have taken in my life have brought me here, now.” It is a poetic invitation to everyone who walks by to consider the interweaving of conscious and unconscious decisions, intent and coincidence, that defined their path in space and time. Bologna thus becomes one of the cities (about twelve throughout the world, including Florence, Antwerp, Kaunas (Lithuania), and Tokyo) to have versions of the work, each differing in language, material, and size. In this way, Arte Fiera completes its homage to one of the most important Italian artists of the past 50 years, who passed away just a few months ago.

Arte Fiera and Fondazione Furla have renewed their partnership for the live performance program curated by Bruna Roccasalva, the Foundation’s Artistic Director. The featured artist for the new edition is the Peruvian artist Daniela Ortiz, who will create a new performance entitled Tiro al Blanco. This ambitious installation, to be activated by a participatory performance, investigates the systems of political, economic, and cultural power that rule the world, and specifically the institutional mechanisms that exercise violence on Global South populations.

Technical partner I.E.InfrastruttrEcologia srl of Mirandola (MO)

Performance has been a part of Arte Fiera since its earliest editions: the 1976 edition presented performances by artists such as Vincenzo Agnetti, Urs Lüthi, Hermann Nitsch, and Franco Vaccari, not in the program of events but as daring and visionary proposals by a few galleries. A first look at this little-known and almost undocumented story is presented by the exhibit “Praticamente nulla da vendere”. La performance ad Arte Fiera nel 1976, curated by Uliana Zanetti, Curator of collections at MAMbo - Museo d’Arte Moderna di Bologna. Starting from a few unpublished photographs stored in the fair’s archive, Zanetti has significantly broadened our knowledge of the performances at the 1976 edition of Arte Fiera, calling attention to documents not yet studied that highlight aspects often ignored in the history of performance. Set up in Hall 25, “Praticamente nulla da vendere” is created in collaboration with MAMbo and offers an opportunity to study the wide-ranging performance research project undertaken by the Museum in recent years.

Another exhibit explores the fair’s origins starting from a unique viewpoint: the catalog of the first edition. Curated by art historian Clarissa Ricci, Numero zero. Il primo catalogo di Arte Fiera presents enlarged reproductions of all the pages of the catalog for Arte Fiera’s first edition (1974). Visitors can discover the ten galleries – all Italian, and most from Bologna – that participated in that inaugural edition. Created in collaboration with ANGAMC - Associazione Nazionale Gallerie d’Arte Moderna e Contemporanea, and set up next to the Association’s lounge in Hall 26, the exhibit includes a chronology of participations in Arte Fiera from 1974 to 1979, an original way to illustrate the growth of the fair and highlight the great cultural vitality and essential contribution of the galleries.

Book Talk, devoted exclusively to art books and curated by Guendalina Piselli and in partnership with BPER, returns for its third edition with a full schedule of presentations. Critics, experts, and artists will offer the public some of the most interesting Italian books recently (or soon to be) published. The following are a few highlights:

Uliana Zanetti presents “La performance a Bologna negli anni ’70” (Edizioni MAMbo, 2023), the result of MAMbo’s study and analysis of the museum’s documents on the history of performance, a form to which the 50^th anniversary of Arte Fiera dedicates the exhibit entitled “Praticamente non avevamo nulla da vendere” (Practically nothing to sell), which Zanetti has curated.

Curator Francesco Zanot and artist Francesco Jodice present the book “West” (Electa, 2023), the catalog of the artist’s show at the National Archeological Museum in Naples.

The book contains seventy large-scale color photographs taken in eleven states - California, Arizona, Nevada, New Mexico, Texas, Colorado, Utah, Wyoming, Montana, Idaho, and South Dakota. All of the photos are accompanied by maps and by historical and iconographic materials.

Curators Damiano Gullì and Davide Ferri, together with artist Sofia Silva, present “Pittura italiana oggi” (Electa, 2023), the catalog of the show at the Milan Triennial. Through works created from 2020 to 2023 by 120 artists born between 1960 and 2000, Pittura italiana oggi offers an extensive anthology of viewpoints, expressions, and interpretations of contemporary art.

Arte Fiera has renewed its partnership with Mutina, the famous ceramics brand with creations by the world’s top designers, known for its strong links to contemporary art. Mutina announces it participation to Arte Fiera Bologna with a special exhibition project dedicated to Maurizio Cattelan titled BECAUSE.

In 1991, still at the beginning of his artistic career, Cattelan decided to “infiltrate” Arte Fiera and participate through an illegal booth. Thirty-three years later, in 2024, Mutina is pleased to contribute to the fair by creating the stage for another appearance by the artist. With BECAUSE Cattelan does not venture to answer but leaves the public once again without any certainty.

Conceived by Sarah Cosulich, curator of Mutina for Art, the project BECAUSE is an unexpected dialogue between two works by Maurizio Cattelan, amplified by the space that houses them. Protagonist of the display created for the occasion is the ceramic collection Fringe, designed for Mutina by Michael Anastassiades.

Awards and Trust for Contemporary Arts

ANGAMC - Associazione Nazionale Gallerie d’Arte Moderna e Contemporanea Award The ANGAMC Award for Lifetime Achievement acknowledges the career and activity of a gallerist belonging the Italy’s National Association of Modern and Contemporary Art Galleries who over his/her career has shown special commitment to the sector, achieving widely recognized success at the artistic, human and commercial level.

The ANGAMC Award also emphasizes the importance of a professional – the gallerist – who plays a fundamental role in the promulgation of art and culture.

BPER Award

The 2024 BPER Bank Award, an acquisition devoted to enhancing feminine themes (regardless of the winning artist’s gender), is part of the BPER Group’s traditional value structure, focused on inclusion and against gender violence and united with the promotion of culture and art for the general public. BPER will display the winning work in one of its branches to provide visibility to the work and to the artist after the conclusion of Arte Fiera.

Righi Collection Award

The aim of the Righi Collection Award, in its second in 2024, is to acquire a work exhibited at Arte Fiera to be added to the collections of MAMbo - Museo d’arte moderna e contemporanea di Bologna, with specific focus on the work of recent generations of Italian artists.

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

Colophonarte Award

The Colophonarte Award, which debuted at Arte Fiera in 2023, is a look at young art by a major publisher of Italian art books. Open to artists under 40, of any nationality, whose works are presented at Arte Fiera, it allows the winner to conceive and publish an art book in an edition of 500 copies, plus a special more limited edition.

Marval Collection Award

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

Officina Arte Ducati Award

This year marks the debut of the Officina Arte Ducati Award, linked to Percorso, the format that thematically links the stands at the fair. In 2024, Percorso is dedicated to design. The jury will select a work in this medium based on the criteria linked to the brand’s identity - speed, design research, and innovation - to be added to Ducati’s corporate collection.

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. One of the five finalists of the award – now in its third edition and addressed to an Italian artist whose principal medium is painting - will be chosen in the Pittura XXI section of Arte Fiera.

Rotary Award

The Rotary Award is presented to the most creative installation at Arte Fiera 2024, whether a creation by an artist or the overall setup of a stand. Now in its 11^th consecutive edition, the award consists of the Rotary Award Arte Fiera 2024 to gallery, the Special Rotaract Bologna Award, and the Special “Andrea Sapone” award by Rotary Club Bologna Valle del Samoggia.

Spada Partners Award

For the third consecutive year, Spada Partners renews its partnership with Arte Fiera with the Spada Partners Award. The winning work will be acquired and displayed permanently in the studio’s Milan offices, whose unique collection of contemporary art is viewed by employees as well as by clients.

The Collectors.Chain Prize by Art Defender

Art Defender’s special relationship with photography and with Arte Fiera is expressed in The Collectors.Chain Prize, an award devoted exclusively to photography, which in 2024 has reached its third edition. This year as well, the chosen work will become part of the Art Defender photography collection, confirming the company’s dedication to this medium.

Walter Guadagnini is once again the jury chairman, assisted in choosing the winning work by a committee composed exclusively of collectors.

Trust for Contemporary Art

For the third consecutive year, the Trust for Contemporary Art will invest 30 thousand euros at Arte Fiera to acquire one or more works of Italian art from the 1950s to today. The Trust for Contemporary Art, the first of its kind in Italy, has created and manages a fund committed to contemporary art, with resources contributed by BolognaFiere,

Fondazione Cassa di Risparmio in Bologna, Fondazione del Monte di Bologna e Ravenna, by main donor Gruppo Unipol and supporting donor Emil Banca Credito Cooperativo. The Trust’s Public Collections Committee, composed of Sarah Cosulich, Chiara Parisi, and Claudio Spadoni, will select works by artists represented by the galleries at Arte Fiera 2024.

Arte Fiera and BPER

Arte Fiera is proud to announce that BPER Banca has strengthened its commitment to the event and has become the Main Partner of Arte Fiera 2024. With this important step, the primary fair for art and Italian galleries is now linked to a national bank with strong ties in its home territory: a bank that actively promotes and supports art and culture, convinced that they are essential for both local development and social inclusion.

ART CITY Bologna

For the 50^th edition of Arte Fiera, the ART CITY Bologna program, curated for the 7^th consecutive year by Lorenzo Balbi, Director of MAMbo – Museo d’Arte Moderna di Bologna, has chosen to honor the most important artist who was born and lived in Bologna: Giorgio Morandi (1890 - 1964), on the 60^th anniversary of his death, offering a program based on his works.

Five special projects will explore and reinterpret Morandi’s output by means of various forms of contemporary art: a performance directed by Virgilio Sieni, who will bring to the parterre of Bologna’s Teatro Comunale the new production Elegia Luminosa and will conduct Atelier Morandi - Palestra Auratica, a series of lessons on gesture; the photographs of Joel Meyerowitz will be shown in the Municipal Art Collections in Palazzo d’Accursio in Morandi’s Objects, and by the works of Mary Ellen Bartley in the exhibit Mary Ellen Bartley: MORANDI’S BOOKS, at the Morandi Museum; the film by the artist Tacita Dean with the short entitled STILL LIFE. The studio of Giorgio Morandi, shown in the new PIETRO space; lastly, there will be the sound/live installation Saturnine Orbit by Mark Vernon, designed by Xing for the Giorgio Morandi Home Museum and for the Haystacks of Campiaro in Grizzana Morandi, in the province of Bologna.

Of course, there will also be one of the public’s favorite events: ART CITY White Night, on

Saturday 3 February, when many of the city’s art sites, galleries, independent exhibition spaces, historical buildings, and shops will extend the opening hours.

Arte Fiera thanks Stefauto for its support and for its courtesy cars.

For further info www.artefiera.it/en/