Gallery applications open

miart, the international modern and contemporary art fair organized by Fiera Milano returns from April 4 to 6, 2025 (with VIP preview on April 3) under the artistic direction of Nicola Ricciardi. Now in its twenty-ninth edition, miart offers the widest range of artworks in Italy, spanning from early twentieth-century masterpieces to the creations of emerging contemporary artists, with special emphasis on the relationship between visual and applied arts and on the design-oriented nature of exhibits. Direct link to the application can be found here.

miart 2025 draws inspiration from the life and work of Robert Rauschenberg (1925–2008), on the centenary of his birth. A key figure in the transition between modern and contemporary art, Rauschenberg built a practice based on principles such as an openness to the world, an insatiable curiosity, and most importantly a commitment to dialogue and collaboration.

Moreover, in his rejection of conventional categories and distinctions—between art and non-art, artist and spectator, between various media, and between sciences—the American artist pioneered new working methods that remain highly relevant today, constantly promoting partnerships not only with fellow artists but also with dancers, musicians, writers, scientists.

After the growth of the past four years, which has allowed miart to relaunch itself internationally and take its first steps beyond its traditional spatial and temporal boundaries, the fair now aims to embrace Rauschenberg’s approach with the goal of structuring the network of relationships it has built over time, positioning itself as the heart of an ideal festival of contemporary arts.

The main stage of this festival is, of course, the fair itself, where an increasingly careful selection of galleries will be distributed according to an updated layout. Alongside Emergent—the section dedicated to the younger generation of gallerists curated by Attilia Fattori Franchini—the Portal section will find new space, reinterpreted and revised through the curatorship of Alessio Antoniolli, Director at Triangle Network in London and curator at Fondazione Memmo in Rome.

Other secondary “stages” will be activated in the months leading up to the fair, through collaborations with public and private institutions, with the aim of nurturing and harnessing the energies of the city of Milan throughout the year. These initiatives will also serve as a preview of Milano Art Week, the curated programme of openings and special events organized in collaboration with the City of Milan, which traditionally takes place during the fair.

With the same spirit in which Rauschenberg considered himself an artist in continuous dialogue—he was attracted by “any situation where the final work was the result of more than one person’s doing”—miart 2025 will also serve as a platform for fostering new synergies and connections, as suggested by the edition’s title, “among friends”, borrowed from the last major retrospective dedicated to the American artist. The emphasis on friendship will be explored through talks, exhibitions, and other dedicated initiatives, aimed at highlighting the importance of lasting and genuinely supportive relationships between artists, galleries, and institutions, not maintained for material benefit or advantage, but for the desire for equal and reciprocal help (without forgetting to delve into the problems of turning support within one’s sphere of influence into discrimination against those who do not belong to it).

Please visit miart’s website here for an overview of the 2025 edition that includes further information about the sections, the Selection Committee, the curatorial team, and the application process. All the applications to miart 2025 must be submitted online by Friday, October 25, 2024. If you have questions or doubts on and around the application process, please contact: miart [​at​] fieramilano.it.