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 (not only in Italy) in visual arts, design, 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.

Arte Fiera 2024 will have 195 exhibitors. We welcome return of galleries such as the Apalazzo Gallery, Laveronica, Lia Rumma, Lorenzelli Arte, Franco Noero, Ronchini, Sprovieri.

The Main Section of Arte Fiera, divided as always into post-war and contemporary art, will again be accompanied by three curated, invitation-only sections: Photography and moving images, Pittura XXI, and Multiples, presenting 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: drawing.

The following is a brief description of each section and its participants: The Main Section ranges from Modern and post-war art, the fair’s traditional strong points, to contemporary research, with emphasis on Italian art.

Participating galleries1/9 UNOSUNOVE, Rome A ARTE INVERNIZZI, Milan GALLERIA GIAMPAOLO ABBONDIO, Todi (PG), Milan ABC – ARTE, Genoa, Milan AF GALLERY, Bologna ANDREA INGENITO CONTEMPORARY ART, Naples, Milan ARMANDA GORI ARTE, Prato ART D2 - MODERN AND CONTEMPORARY ART, Milan ARTESILVA, Seregno (MB) ARTOPIA, Milan ENRICO ASTUNI, Bologna PIERO ATCHUGARRY GALLERY, Miami (USA), Garzon (UY), Milan UMBERTO BENAPPI, Turin BIASUTTI & BIASUTTI, Turin FLORA BIGAI, Pietrasanta (LU) GALLERIA GIOVANNI BONELLI, Milan, Pietrasanta (LU), Canneto sull'Oglio (MN) BOTTEGANTICA, Milan THOMAS BRAMBILLA, Bergamo C+N GALLERY CANEPANERI, Milan, Genoa CA' DI FRA', Milan STUDIO D'ARTE CAMPAIOLA, Rome CARDELLI & FONTANA, Sarzana (SP) ALESSANDRO CASCIARO, Bolzano ANTONELLA CATTANI, Bolzano GLAUCO CAVACIUTI, Milan GALLERIA CENTRO STECCATA, Parma CINQUANTASEI, Bologna GALLERIA CLIVIO, Milan, Parma CONTINI, Venice, Cortina d'Ampezzo (BL) COPETTI ANTIQUARI, Udine MAURIZIO CORRAINI, Mantua CORTESI GALLERY, Lugano (CH), Milan DE' BONIS, Reggio Emilia DE' FOSCHERARI, Bologna DELLUPI ARTE, Milan DEP ART GALLERY, Milan, Ceglie Messapica (BR) UMBERTO DI MARINO, Naples DI PAOLO ARTE, Bologna E3 ARTE CONTEMPORANEA, Brescia EDDART, Rome EIDOS IMMAGINI CONTEMPORANEE, Asti EX ELETTROFONICA, Rome FEDERICA SCHIAVO GALLERY SRL, Rome FERRARINARTE, Legnano (VR) GALLERIA FONTI, Naples FORNI, Bologna FRANCESCA ANTONINI ARTE CONTEMPORANEA, Rome FRITTELLI, Florence GALLERIA GABURRO, Verona, Milan GALERIE MICHAELA STOCK, Vienna (AT) GALLERIA CONTINUA, San Gimignano (SI), Beijing (CN), Les Moulins (FR), Havana (CU), Rome, São Paulo (BR), Paris (FR), Dubai (AE) FREDIANO FARSETTI, Milan GALLERIA PAOLA VERRENGIA, Salerno GALLERIA POGGIALI, Florence, Milan, Pietrasanta (LU) STEFANO FORNI, Bologna GALLERIA STUDIO G7, Bologna GASPARELLI, Fano (PU) GALLERIA GIRALDI, Leghorn STUDIO GUASTALLA, Milan GUASTALLA CENTRO ARTE, Leghorn IL CHIOSTRO ARTECONTEMPORANEA, Saronno (VA) IL PONTE, Florence KROMYA ART GALLERY, Verona, Lugano (CH) LABS CONTEMPORARY ART, Bologna L'ARIETE ARTECONTEMPORANEA, Bologna LAVERONICA, Modica (RG) L'INCONTRO, Chiari (BS) LORENZELLI ARTE, Milan LUNETTA11, Mombarcaro (CN) M77, Milan, Mallorca (IB) MAAB, Milan GALLERIA D'ARTE MAGGIORE A.M., Bologna, Rome, Venice, Paris (FR) MARCOROSSI ARTECONTEMPORANEA, Milan, Pietrasanta (LU), Turin, Verona PRIMO MARELLA, Milan, Lugano (CH) MATÈRIA, Rome MATTEO BELLENGHI MODERN & CONTEMPORARY ART, Alassio (SV), Milan MAZZOLENI, Turin, London (UK) GALLERIA MAZZOLI, Modena, Berlin (DE) MENHIR ART GALLERY, Milan MICHELA RIZZO, Venice MIMMO SCOGNAMIGLIO ARTECONTEMPORANEA, Milan FRANCESCA MININI, Milan GALLERIA MASSIMO MININI, Brescia MONITOR, Rome, Lisbon (PT), Pereto (AQ) MUCCIACCIA GALLERY, Rome, London (UK), Cortina d'Ampezzo (BL), Singapore (SG) NICCOLI – SPERONE, Parma, Turin NICOLA PEDANA, Caserta FRANCO NOERO, Turin OPEN ART, Prato OSART GALLERY, Milan P420, Bologna GIORGIO PERSANO, Turin POLESCHI ARTE, Milan PROGETTOARTE ELM, Milan PROMETEO GALLERY, Milan, Lucca QUAM, Scicli (RG) RENATA FABBRI, Milan REPETTO GALLERY, Lugano (CH) RIBOT, Milan RICHARD SALTOUN, London (UK), Rome RIZZUTOGALLERY, Palermo ROCCATRE, Turin RONCHINI, London (UK) ROSSOVERMIGLIOARTE, Padua LIA RUMMA, Milan, Naples RUSSO, Rome SANTO FICARA, Florence SECCI GALLERY, Florence, Milan, Pietrasanta (LU) SHAZAR GALLERY, Naples EDOUARD SIMOENS, Knokke (BE) SPAZIOA, Pistoia SPROVIERI, London (UK) STUDIO D'ARTE RAFFAELLI, Trento STUDIO GARIBOLDI, Milan STUDIO SALES, Rome THE GALLERY APART, Rome GALLERIA TONELLI, Milan, Porto Cervo (OT) TORBANDENA, Trieste TORNABUONI ARTE, Florence, Milan, Rome, Forte dei Marmi (LU), Crans Montana (CH), Paris (FR) TRAFFIC, Bergamo ANTONIO VEROLINO, Modena GALLERIA VIGATO, Alessandria VISTAMARE, Milan, Pescara WIZARD GALLERY, Milan Z2O SARA ZANIN, Rome .., Milan

Photography and moving images has become a reference point for photograph collectors and photography enthusiasts. The photographic medium is presented from a broad perspective and dialogues with other media, especially video. For the second year, the section is curated by Giangavino Pazzola, curator of Camera - Centro Italiano per la Fotografia in Turin.

Participating galleriesALESSIA PALADINI GALLERY, Milan ANTONIA JANNONE DISEGNI DI ARCHITETTURA, Milan VALERIA BELLA, Milan GLENDA CINQUEGRANA, Milan MARTINI & RONCHETTI, Genoa MATÈRIA, Rome MC2GALLERY, Tivat (ME), Milan MLB MARIA LIVIA BRUNELLI, Ferrara, Porto Cervo (OT) MLZ ART DEP, Trieste MONTRASIO ARTE, Monza, Milan, Piacenza NCONTEMPORARY, Milan, London (UK) PACI CONTEMPORARY, Brescia, Porto Cervo (OT) PAOLA SOSIO CONTEMPORARY, Milan SPAZIO NUOVO, Rome SPOT HOME GALLERY, Naples ANTONIO VEROLINO, Modena VISIONQUEST 4ROSSO, Genoa

Now in its fifth edition, Pittura XXI, a panorama of 21st-century painting from Italy and abroad, presents emerging talents as well as mid-career artists. Once again, the section will be curated by Davide Ferri, critic and independent curator.

Participating galleriesACAPPELLA, Naples ADA, Rome BOCCANERA, Trento, Milan CAR GALLERY, Bologna GALLERIA DORIS GHETTA, Ortisei (BZ), Milan ERMES-ERMES, Rome FEDERICO RUI, Milan FRANCESCA ANTONINI ARTE CONTEMPORANEA, Rome GALLERIA MASSIMOLIGREGGI, Catania GILDA LAVIA, Rome LUCA TOMMASI, Milan MARCELLE ALIX, Paris (FR) FPAC FRANCESCO PANTALEONE ARTE CONTEMPORANEA, Palermo, Milan SOCIÉTÉ INTERLUDIO, Turin TATJANA PIETERS, Ghent (BE) UNA, Piacenza

This year, Multiples, devoted to works in edition, is curated by Alberto Salvadori, critic and art historian. The section includes galleries, specialised bookstores, and publishers, and ranges from books to the press, sculpture in edition to precious objects, in a multifaceted and inclusive panorama of multiplied art.

Participating exhibitorsALBICOCCO, Udine APALAZZOGALLERY, Brescia BABS ART GALLERY, Milan CAPUTOCOLOSSI INCONTRO D’ARTE, Brescia COLOPHONARTE, Belluno DANILO MONTANARI EDITORE, Ravenna GALLERIA SCARCHILLI, Rome GALLLERIAPIÙ, Bologna LITOGRAFIA BULLA, Rome MONTRASIO ARTE, Milan, Monza, Piacenza PARADISOTERRESTRE, Bologna TONINI EDITORE, Gussago (BS), Milan Opus Novum #6: Luisa Lambri

Every year since 2019, Arte Fiera has commissioned a well-known Italian artist to create a new work to be presented at the Fair. So far, Opus Novum (as the series is named) has commissioned works from Flavio Favelli (2019), Eva Marisaldi (2020), Stefano Arienti (2021), Liliana Moro (2022), and Alberto Garutti (2023).

In 2024, the commission 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 does not photograph architecture any more than Morandi painted cups and bottles: just like the Bolognese master, she investigates relations among space, time, and light by means of an engrossing series of variations.

For Arte Fiera, Lambri focuses on an important but almost unknown building: Alvar Aalto’s Church of Santa Maria Assunta (Assumption of Mary) in Riola, in the Bolognese Apennines. Designed in 1966 and built 10 years later, this is the Finnish architect’s only work in Italy. Lambri’s new images, concentrating on a few isolated details of the church, will be exhibited along with others that she created previously and matched with the new ones by similarity, in another jewel of modernist architecture in Bologna: the Padiglione de L’Esprit Nouveau (1977), the replica of a temporary architectural work by Le Corbusier from 1925. Built to honour the French master, it is so faithful to the original that it has been added to the Le Corbusier Foundation’s heritage list. Lambri’s project therefore unites two superb examples of Bologna’s architecture from the ‘70s - two outstanding instances of the city’s creativity in those years.

Collaborations and partnerships

The collaboration between Arte Fiera and the Furla Foundation for performance has been renewed. Arte Fiera 2024’s programme of live performances will be curated by Bruna Roccasalva, the Foundation’s Artistic Director. For many years, Furla Foundation has promoted a business model based on institutional synergies, and its renewed partnership with Arte Fiera confirms its participation in the cultural life of Bologna, its native city.

We have also renewed our partnership with Mutina. This famous ceramics brand, with creations by the world’s top designers, is known for its strong links to contemporary art. After its 2023 partnership with Mousse, the Milanese art book publisher, in whose books Mutina’s ceramics dialogued in an ad hoc presentation, Mutina will again be at Arte Fiera with a special project to be announced soon.

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.

For further info www.artefiera.it