It was when 1974 BolognaFiere he decided to present, within what was then still called the Trade Fair, a small section dedicated to modern and contemporary art. And fifty years after the first edition the Ministry of Business and Made in Italy celebrates it withissuing a stamp.
The 2024 edition of Arte Fiera, in addition to taking up the thread of one of the most successful editions of recent years, will be held in pavilions 25 and 26 from 2 to 5 February. And see Artistic Director Simone Menegoi and Enea Righi, manager and collector of international level, as Operations Director.
They are overall 196 exhibitors who will participate in Arte Fiera 2024. The complete list is available here. We note the welcome return of galleries such as Apalazzo Gallery, Laveronica, Lia Rumma, Lorenzelli Arte, Franco Noero, Ronchini, Sprovieri. Alongside the Main Section of Arte Fiera, divided as always between historicized and contemporary art three curated and invited sections: Photography and moving images, Painting XXI and Multiples, which offers works in edition, ranging from artist's books to author's design. Davide Ferri, independent critic and curator, is confirmed as curator of Pittura XXI, while Photography and moving images is entrusted for the second year to Giangavino Pazzola, curator of Camera – Italian Center for Photography (Turin). News instead for Multipli, which sees the arrival of the art critic and historian Alberto Salvadori. Alongside the curated sections, Percorso returns: not a real section but, as the title indicates, an itinerary that connects a certain number of stands in the Main Section according to a thematic criterion. The theme of Percorso will be a universal language, which unites artists of different generations and languages: drawing. For the 2024 edition, Percorso is supported by a partner of excellence, linked to the Bolognese area but known worldwide: Ducati.
Awards and Trusts for Contemporary Art
ANGAMC Award – National Association of Modern and Contemporary Art Galleries.
The ANGAMC Lifetime Achievement Award recognizes the history and activity of a gallery owner affiliated with the National Association of Modern and Contemporary Art Galleries who, over the course of his career, has demonstrated significant commitment to his role, obtaining exceptional feedback from artistic, human and commercial point of view. The Award also offers the opportunity to underline the importance of a professional figure, that of the gallery owner, who plays a fundamental role in the diffusion of art and culture.
BPER Award
The BPER Banca 2024 Award is an acquisition award dedicated to the valorization of feminine themes regardless of the artist's gender. It is part of a path of value that the BPER Group has been pursuing for some time, oriented towards inclusion and the fight against gender violence, combined with the promotion of culture and art among citizens. BPER will exhibit the winning work in one of its locations to offer visibility to the work and the artist even after the conclusion of Arte Fiera.
Righi Collection Award
The Righi Collection Award, in its second edition in 2024, aims to acquire a work exhibited at Arte Fiera which will increase the collections of the MAMbo - Museum of Modern and Contemporary Art of Bologna, focusing in particular on the work of the latest generations of Italian artists.
Currently made up of over a thousand museum-sized works, the Righi collection is one of the most important private collections of contemporary art in Italy.
Colophonarte Award
After its debut at Arte Fiera in 2023, the Colophonarte Award returns, a look at young art from a historic publishing house in Italian art publishing. Aimed at artists under 40 of any nationality whose works are present at Arte Fiera, it allows the winner to conceive and print an artist's book in a print run of 500 copies, accompanied by a special edition in a more limited number.
Marval Collection Award
Aimed mainly at emerging and mid-career artists, the Marval Acquisition Award consists of an acquisition intended for the private collection that gives its name to the award, a residency offered to the awarded artist and targeted communication on the collection network to give as much visibility as possible to the artist and the gallery of origin.
Officina Arte Ducati Award
The Officina Arte Ducati Award kicks off, linked to Percorso, the transversal format that connects the fair's stands on the basis of a thematic criterion. In 2024 Percorso is dedicated to drawing. The jury will choose a work created with this medium intended for the Ducati corporate collection on the basis of criteria linked to the brand's identity: speed, design research, innovation.
Osvaldo Licini Award by Fainplast
The Osvaldo Licini by Fainplast award was born from an idea of the Picena Contemporary Art association in collaboration with the municipality of Ascoli Piceno, and of the Fainplast group. One of the five finalists of the award - now in its third edition and intended for an Italian artist whose main medium is painting - will be chosen at Arte Fiera in the Painting XXI section.
Rotary Award
The Rotary Award is awarded to the most creative installation presented at Arte Fiera 2024, be it the creation of an artist or the overall setup of a stand. In detail, the award, which this year reaches its eleventh edition, is made up of various awards, such as the Rotary Arte Fiera 2024 Award to the gallery, the Rotaract Bologna special award, the Andrea Sapone Rotary Club Bologna Valle del Samoggia special award.
Studio Spada Partners Award
The Spada Partners studio renews its partnership with Arte Fiera for the third consecutive year through the Spada Partners Award. The winning work will be acquired and permanently displayed in the firm's Milan offices, where a unique collection of contemporary art is set up and accessible to both collaborators and clients.
The Collectors.Chain Prize by Art Defender
Art Defender's special relationship with photography and with Arte Fiera finds expression in The Collectors.Chain Prize, an award dedicated exclusively to photography which reaches its third edition in 2024. This year too, the selected work will become part of the Art Defender photography collection, confirming the company's attention to this medium. Walter Guadagnini is confirmed in the role of jury president, who will be supported in choosing the winning work by a commission made up exclusively of collectors.
Trust for Contemporary Art
The Trust for Contemporary Art has been confirmed for the third year and will invest 30 thousand euros at Arte Fiera to acquire one or more works of Italian art from the 50s to today. The Trust for Contemporary Art, the first example created in Italy in this area, establishes and manages a fund dedicated to the art of the present, represented by the resources made available by the three organizers BolognaFiere, Fondazione Cassa di Risparmio in Bologna, Fondazione del Monte of Bologna and Ravenna, from the main donor Group
Unipol and the supporting donor Emil Banca Credito Cooperativo. The selection will be made by the TRUST Public Collections Committee - composed of Sarah Cosulich, Chiara Parisi and Claudio Spadoni - among the works of the artists represented by the galleries present at Arte Fiera 2024.