2020 Archive

Pittura XXI, curated by Davide Ferri, is the new section of Arte Fiera 2020 and the first section of any fair (Italian or foreign) devoted entirely to contemporary art, offering a panorama of paintings by emerging and mid-career artists from Italy and abroad. The section, presented in a period in which painting has made a vigorous return to the art scene, offers works by 30 mid-career artists (many from abroad) who began painting in the early 2000s and are presented by about 20 galleries. The section highlights the work of artists who in recent years (especially in Italy) have developed a movement in which painting plays a leading role.

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Now in its second edition at Arte Fiera, the Photography and moving images section, curated by the Fantom platform (Selva Barni, Ilaria Speri, Massimo Torrigiani, and Francesco Zanot), showcases some of the most recent studies in photography and video as well as some essential reference points from the past. There are twenty exhibiting galleries.

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The traditional appointment, the vernissage of Arte Fiera, Bologna’s international art fair for modern and contemporary art, takes place in the afternoon of 23 January. The event, which is now in its 44th edition and promises numerous new features, will be open until 26 January. The opening day is set to see significant numbers attend the invitation only event, including VIPs and personalities known in Bologna and beyond. For the second year running Simone Menegoi is the Fair’s artistic director and this year he will also be assisted by Gloria Bartoli.

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Arte Fiera 2020 was presented and opened today, on Thursday 23 January, at the Bologna Exhibition Centre, where the event will be taking place until 26 January. Speaking at the press conference held this morning were president of BolognaFiere, Gianpiero Calzolari, artistic director of Arte Fiera, Simone Menegoi, and Matteo Lepore, the Bologna City Council’s Assessor for Culture and the Promotion of the City. The vernissage will begin at 5pm. The 2020 edition will involve additional exhibition spaces (pavilions 16 and 18) and many new features concerning the artistic direction that sees Simone Menegoi assisted by Gloria Bartoli. A total of 155 galleries are participating in the Main Section, Photography and Moving Images and Focus and Painting XXI, with a total of 345 artists present. Arte Fiera is also set to experience the second chapter of the event Courtesy Emilia-Romagna, curated by Eva Brioschi who will present the exhibition "L’opera aperta" (The open work).

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The curator of the 2020 edition of Courtesy Emilia-Romagna is Eva Brioschi, art historian and critic, who has chosen for her exhibition the title "L’opera aperta" (the open work). This year will see Arte Fiera’s second edition of Courtesy Emilia-Romagna, the cycle of exhibitions that involves public and private institutional collections of modern and contemporary art located across the Emilia-Romagna territory. The format is the same as 2019: a curator has been invited to explore the collections and, using works selected from them, curate a temporary exhibition within the pavilions of the Exhibition Centre. The exhibition thus provides an opportunity to see the region’s artistic heritage at close quarters and is in the form of a “scattered museum”.

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A film set-performance over three days at Arte Fiera: from the preparation of the scene to the clapperboard, from warming up the guests – the dogs – to the manipulation of sound. This is the new project by Zapruder filmakersgroup that will proliferate in numerous directions to then converge into a complex work: a film. Refined creators of new mythologies steeped in the present, at the Fair Zapruder use the viewing device of the Sala Opera to emphasise the separation of the senses: hearing and sight return different landscapes. The guiding image of the project is a picture gallery in which the only subjects are, in fact, dogs.

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The protagonist of the Special Project for Arte Fiera 2020 is Eva Marisaldi, one of Italy’s most significant artists of the last thirty years. The artist, in fact, will be presenting “Welcome”, a new creation divided into two parts. The first is an installation that welcomes visitors at the entrance to pavilion 18: four silver airships, decorated with embroidered saddlecloths, oscillate sweetly overhead powered by small motors. The four motifs embroidered onto the saddlecloths (birds, fireworks, satellites and stars) of each airship form the introduction to the second part of the project: Marisaldi has produced 40 designs that have been printed onto the sachets of sugar available at the bars and cafes of the Fair and at the cafes at MAMbo, the Municipal Theatre and the Royal Hotel Carlton in Bologna. Welcome has been made possible thanks to the support of BPER Banca and to the technical sponsorship of Italia Zuccheri and Space World Air.

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Alessandro Bosetti’s "L’Ombra" (the shadow) is one of the performances of "Oplà. Performing Activities", the programme of live arts curated by Silvia Fanti (Xing) for the second year at Arte Fiera, taking place from 24 to 26 January 2020. Bosetti, a composer and sound artist, will be creating a sound performance conceived as a poetic reportage and created by drawing on an ever-growing sound archive. Microphone in hand, the artist will be gathering and then returning a body of vocal fragments, recorded by moving through the voices at the Fair. The performer will then be presenting the project himself.

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A sound performance conceived as a poetic reportage drawing on vocal fragments collected over the three days while moving through the fleeting community of voices inhabiting the fair “situation”, recording visitors, exhibitors, technicians and artists. For each fragment collected, Alessandro Bosetti, composer and sound artist, created a sound shadow to then sneak into the programme schedule with some short vocal renderings and performances. Bosetti’s “L’ombra” project is part of "Oplà. Performing Activities", the live arts programme at Arte Fiera 2020 curated by Silvia Fanti (Xing).

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"Devla, devla..." is a happening created especially for the spaces of Arte Fiera. Men and women of the Roma culture, concealed by a partition connoted by an image that has been elaborated many times by the artist, read the future to visitors willing to experience the practice of clairvoyance. The latter is exercised in the form of card reading and palm reading and is a particular feature of the Roma cultural tradition. "Devla, devla..." was conceived from the idea that gave life to the project Romanistan, a journey/ artwork in which Luca Vitone retraced the migration route of the Roma people from India to Europe. The project is part of "Oplà. Performing Activities", the live arts programme at Arte Fiera 2020 curated by Silvia Fanti (Xing).

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Long applause greeted the announcement of the winner of the ANGAMC Award, acknowledging Robert Casamonti, whose passion and dedication has brought Tornabuoni Art to the very centre of the art world and made him an ambassador for Italian culture around the world. The prize-giving ceremony was held on Saturday 25 in the Talk Area at Arte Fiera Bologna 2020, and was attended by Gianpiero Calzolari (President of BolognaFiere) and Simone Menegoi (Artistic Director of Arte Fiera). Following the address by Bruno Corà (Art historian and President of the Fondazione Burri), who outlined the story of Casamonti and his gallery, Mauro Stefanini (President of ANGAMC) presented the winner with a commemorative plaque.

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Arte Fiera 2020 saw the presentation of 5 Awards to the exhibiting galleries: The Mediolanum Award for painting, the Wide Award, the A Collection Award, the Rotary Award and the ANGAMC Award. The prize-giving ceremony took place on Friday 24 January in the Talk Area at the Fair. The Awards were provided by the event’s partners with the support of the expert jury composed of curators, museum directors, collectors and professionals from the sector.

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There were 155 galleries at Arte Fiera 2020: 108 in the Main Section and 47 in the three invitation only sections: Photography and the Moving Image (20 galleries), and making their debuts, Focus (8 galleries) and Pittura XXI (19 galleries), bringing the total number of artist presented to 345. The 44th edition, from 24 to 26 January at BolognaFiere (press preview and inauguration on Thursday 23 January), was directed for the second year by Simone Menegoi, who was assisted by Gloria Bartoli. The 2020 edition was packed with new features.

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