June 6, 2024
Arte Fiera 48: Scena Italia
Applications are open to the 2025 edition of Arte Fiera, the longest-lived Italian art fair.
Created in 1974, Arte Fiera recently celebrated a half-century of activity with a very successful edition. It has once again become the principal fair for galleries presenting 20th- and 21st-century Italian art.
The Italian art scene is rich, complex, multi-layered: a multi-colored fabric where you can zoom in and discover new motifs and new details every time. Arte Fiera has always been the best place to explore this scene, and our plan for the future—to present it even better and in more detail, with greater focus on new works—is addressed not only to the Italian public (which knows and loves this fair), but to the international public as well.
These bases have generated two initiatives. The first is Prospettiva, an invitation-only section devoted to up-and-coming artists, added to the other sections in order to further expand the fair’s focus on emerging creativity. The second is a special hospitality program for international museum directors and curators to broaden the promotion of Arte Fiera beyond Italy.
Governance and location
For the third year, the governance of Arte Fiera is entrusted to Simone Menegoi as Artistic Director and to Enea Righi as Managing Director. A critic and curator with over 25 years of experience working with a manager who is also one of Italy’s most important collectors of contemporary art: this unique collaboration created the 2023 and 2024 editions, which were unanimously declared the finest in recent years. These results also derived from the decision to return the fair to its traditional halls (25 and 26), among the most elegant in the Bologna Fair District, and from a large investment in communication, services, and in collector accommodation.
Sections and curators
The Main Section of Arte Fiera, which ranges from modern and post-war to contemporary art, is now accompanied by four curated, invitation-only sections: Photography and moving images, Pittura XXI, Multiples, and the new section Prospettiva.
Pittura XXI, a panorama of 21st-century Italian and foreign painting, presents emerging talents as well as mid-career artists. Since its debut in 2020, it has been curated by Davide Ferri, one of Italy’s most authoritative experts on contemporary painting.
Photography and moving images presents the photographic medium from a broad perspective and in dialogue with other media such as video. It is curated by Gian Gavino Pazzola, curator of Camera - Centro Italiano per la Fotografia in Turin.
Multiples is devoted to all types of works in edition, from artist books to design. For the second year, it will be curated by Alberto Salvadori, critic and art historian.
Prospettiva is a new section, a showcase of creativity by young people, with special attention to Italy. It accepts monographic presentations of emerging artists, and is curated by Michele D’Aurizio, curator and critic working in Italy and in the United States.
And, in addition to the curated sections, there is Percorso: not really a section, but, as the name implies, an itinerary that thematically links some of the stands in the Main Section and in the curated sections. After two years devoted to artistic media, Percorso 2025 will concern the content of the works: its new theme is the concept of “Community.”
Contacts
Show office: artefiera [at] bolognafiere.it, T +39 051 282929 /2355
Arte Fiera press office: Elena Pardini, elena [at] elenapardini.it, T +39 348 3399463
Arte Fiera press office: Maddalena Bonicelli, maddalena.bonicelli [at] gmail.com, T +39 3356857707
BolognaFiere press office: Elena Sabbatini, elena.sabbatini [at] bolognafiere.it, T +39 051 282876
