This one from 2023 is the 46th edition of the Bologna event and the fourth under the artistic direction of Simone Menegoi. It is an edition with a strong spirit of renewal, starting with the choice – unprecedented for a fair, not only in Italy – to involve a great collector, Enea Righi, in the role of Managing Director.
The 2023 edition of Arte Fiera involves 141 galleries: 110 in the Main Section and 37 in the three curated and invited sections, Painting XXI (15 galleries), Photography and moving images (12 galleries), Multipli (10 galleries). Following the Main Section and the three sections by invitation and in detail. The complete list is available at the link
The Main Section ranges from Modern and post-war art, historical strengths of the event, up to the contemporary research, with a strong emphasis on Italian art. It includes the Path format, an itinerary that connects some stands according to a thematic criterion.
Also the sections: PaintingXXI, Photography in movement, Multiples, Opus novum, Performance
Now in its fourth edition, Painting XXI is an overview of XNUMXst century Italian and international painting, ranging from emerging talents to mid-career artists. The curatorship of the section is reconfirmed to the critic and independent curator Davide Ferri.
Photography and moving images point of reference for collectors and photography enthusiasts. The photographic medium is approached from a broad perspective, which sees it in dialogue with other media, first of all the video. The section has been entrusted with a new name: Giangavino Pazzola, curator of Camera – Centro Italiano per la Fotografia in Turin.
Multiple is a section dedicated to published works of all kinds, starting with books. Curated by Lisa Andreani and Simona Squadrito, founders of REPLICA – Italian Artist's Book Archive, Multipli includes both galleries and specialized bookshops and publishers.
opus novum, the commission of an unpublished work to be presented in the spaces of the fair, addressed to an established Italian artist, in 2023 will go to a recognized master: Alberto Garutti.
Performance it is an expressive area closely linked to Bologna and Arte Fiera, which since 2019 has made live actions a fundamental point of its program of events. For 2023 the choice is to focus on a single, ambitious project, presented for the first time in Italy, which combines installation, performance and choreography: an intervention by Public Movement, an artistic collective originally from Israel.
Plus the Awards
Righi Collection Award
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. The award, in its first edition, aims to acquire a work destined for the permanent collection of MAMbo – Museum of Modern Art of Bologna.
ColophonArte Prize Arte Fiera 2023
The award, in its first edition, was born as a look at young art by a historic name in Italian art publishing: Colophonarte, a publishing house of artists' books that boasts a catalog of over 120 titles. The recognition is aimed at artists under 40 of any nationality. The winner will be able to conceive and print a book in a circulation of 500 copies, accompanied by a special edition in a more limited number.
Lexus Award – Morini Group
The Lexus Prize – Morini Group, in its first edition, aims to acquire at Arte Fiera 23 the work of an emerging artist linked to the themes of sustainable mobility, the relationship with the environment and ecology.
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 the Fainplast group. One of the four finalists of the Osvaldo Licini by Fainplast Prize, 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.
