International exhibition of modern and contemporary art
February 2–4, 2024
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 at the Trade Fair. 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 only two other fairs in Europe have exceeded. Arte Fiera approaches its 50th edition in great form, with strong governance (Simone Menegoi as Artistic Director and Enea Righi, manager and collector, as Managing Director), a new Main Partner, BPER Banca, and the best selection of galleries in years.
Exhibitors, sections, curators
Arte Fiera 2024 is pleased to announce its 196 exhibitors. We welcome the return of galleries such as Apalazzo, Laveronica, Lia Rumma, Lorenzelli Arte, Franco Noero, Ronchini, and 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, entrusted to curator Giangavino Pazzola; Pittura XXI, curated by critic Davide Ferri, and Multiples, curated by critic and art historian Alberto Salvadori.
In addition to 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. This year, Percorso will be dedicated to drawing.
The complete list of exhibitors is available here.
Opus Novum IV: Luisa Lambri
For 2024, the usual commission of a new work will be carried out by Luisa Lambri, an internationally famous Italian artist whose medium is the photographic image. For Arte Fiera, Lambri focuses on an important yet lesser known building: Alvar Aalto’s Church of Santa Maria Assunta in Riola, in the Bolognese Apennines, 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 existing ones 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.
Performance
Performance has been an integral part of Arte Fiera’s identity since its earliest editions, and is still one of its fixtures. The 2024 edition will celebrate both the present and the past of this language in the framework of the fair.
Arte Fiera and Furla Foundation 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 Daniela Ortiz, a Peruvian artist who has always investigated the complex systems of power that rule the world, and the institutional mechanisms that exercise violence on the Global South populations. For Arte Fiera, Ortiz presents “Tiro al Blanco,” a new and ambitious installation that will be activated by a participatory performance.
The exhibition Praticamente nulla da vendere (Practically nothing to sell). Performance at Arte Fiera in 1976 will look back at an early edition of the fair that featured a spectacular program of performances staged by the participating galleries. Created in collaboration with MAMbo—Museo d’Arte Moderna di Bologna, and curated by Uliana Zanetti, director of Collections at the Museum, Praticamente nulla da vendere offers an opportunity to expand the wide-ranging performance research project undertaken by MAMbo in recent years.
Mutina for Art special project
On the occasion of the upcoming edition of Arte Fiera, Mutina for Art will present BECAUSE, a special project by Maurizio Cattelan. In 1991 Cattelan “illegally” participated in Arte Fiera with an unauthorized booth. Thirty-three years later, Mutina is pleased to provide the stage for another appearance. Two works by the artist will present a tale about rule-breaking and complicity, defiance and atonement. Once again, a way to escape by turning every answer back into an open question. The project is curated by Sarah Cosulich, with a display by Michael Anastassiades.
Fair preview: February 1, 2024
Fair: February 2–4, 2024
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.
Bologna Fiere Press Office Elena Sabbatini elena.sabbatini [at] bolognafiere.it, T +39 051 282876.
