Arte Fiera will take place in Bologna from 24 to 26 January 2020 (press preview and vernissage on Thursday, January 23). For the second consecutive year, the artistic director is Simone Menegoi and Arte Fiera will continue its focus on innovation in exhibition design and the quality of its proposals.

The Main Section will be flanked by three sections by invitation only. The main new feature of the 2020 edition is Pittura XXI, a brand new feature for art fairs and not only in Italy. For the first time a fair will focus its attention on painting, one of the most debated contemporary art forms, with the aim of providing an overview of the emerging talents and mid-career artists, at a national and international level. The curator of this section is Davide Ferri, independent art critic and curator widely esteemed for his knowledge of the medium. Underlining the substantial interest in this new section is the participation of foreign galleries such as Bernhard Knaus, Frankfurt, and Arcade, London.

Another new feature of Arte Fiera 2020 is Focus, a section that will examine the art from the first half of the 20th century and the Post-War Masters. This section will be handed each year to a different curator. The curator chosen for this debut edition is Laura Cherubini, art historian and critic of great renown, who has chosen to concentrate on renewal and revolutions in Italian painting between the end of the 1950s and the end of the 1970s.

Photography and Moving Images, will return for its second edition. This section is a showcase dedicated to video and photography, the media that, more than any other, shape our daily visual horizon. They will be considered by themselves and in dialogue with other contemporary art languages. This section will be again entrusted to Fantom, the curatorial platform created in 2009 between Milan and New York thanks to Selva Barni, Ilaria Speri, Massimo Torrigiani and Francesco Zanot.

The Main Section will continue its innovative model launched last year and dictated by an emphasis on quality and coherence of the stands, an approach that was received enthusiastically by both galleries and collectors. Again this year the galleries have been invited to present a limited number of artists: up to a maximum of three for the medium-sized stands, and a maximum of six for the larger stands. The only exception to the rule – a new feature for the 2020 edition – is the possibility to include more than six artists in the case of a curatorial project dedicated to a group, movement or artistic current.

Furthermore, as with the 2019 edition, a significant percentage of galleries will be presenting single artists in response to Arte Fiera’s curatorial approach. This substantial presence of monographic stands, which will present in-depth examinations of Italian and foreign artists, new proposals and established masters, has been acknowledged as one of the characteristic traits of Menegoi’s artistic direction.

The full list of participating galleries is available at the link http://www.artefiera.it/arte-fiera/elencoespositori-2020/9719.html. Arte Fiera is pleased to highlight the return among its exhibitors of some important galleries such as Giorgio Persano (Turin), Galleria Fonti (Naples), Galleria d’Arte Maggiore G.A.M. (Bologna), FPAC – Francesco Pantaleone Arte Contemporanea (PalermoMilan), in the Main Section and A arte Invernizzi (Milan), Ex Elettrofonica (Rome), Otto Zoo (Milan), The Gallery Apart (Rome), 1/9unosunove arte contemporanea (Rome) in the special sections.

The galleries participating at Arte Fiera will also be competing for the special awards assigned by our partners with the support of expert juries composed of curators, museum directors, collectors and professionals from the sector. The prizes for the 2020 edition will be announced shortly. The Arte Fiera bookshop has once again been entrusted to Corraini Edizioni. As an extension of the bookshop area, publishers of art books and magazines from the sector will be present with dedicated stands and a new position at the Fair.

The Public Program will see a return of the format launched in 2019, which was warmly received by the art world, collectors, gallery owners, the press and the public.

During Arte Fiera 2020 the second chapter of Courtesy Emilia-Romagna, a series of exhibitions engaging public and private institutional collections of contemporary and modern art from the region, will take place. This format includes a temporary exhibition inside the fair, as an opportunity to get to know and appreciate an artistic heritage that can be described as a “scattered museum”, seen from the perspective of a curator that each year will be different. For the 2020 edition this exhibition will be curated by Eva Brioschi, art historian and critic, curator of La Gaia Collection, Busca (Cuneo). The exhibition is called “L’opera aperta” (The Open Work).

Also returning for a second time is OPLA’ – Performing Activities, a project curated by Silvia Fanti (Xing), well-known in Italy and abroad for her strong interest in cutting-edge experiences in the field of live arts. Arte Fiera will proudly present performative interventions by Alessandro Bosetti, Luca Vitone, Zapruder filmmakersgroup and Jimmie Durham, the artist awarded the Golden Lion for Lifetime Achievement at the 58th Venice Biennale. At Arte Fiera Durham will be showcasing a new work inspired by one of his iconic performances, which has only been seen once previously. As announced at the 15th edition of the Contemporary Art Day, promoted by AMACI, Eva Marisaldi will be taking center stage at Arte Fiera 2020 with an ad hoc work created specifically for the occasion. The project, which has been in the pipeline since last spring, is called Welcome, and is composed of two parts: a large installation that visitors will encounter at the Fair entrance, and a scattered intervention in various points, in the fair halls and around Bologna.

Furthermore the artist will be at the Teatro Comunale di Bologna, to seal the collaboration between Arte Fiera and this important city institution. For the second consecutive year, Flash Art is the content partner for the event and as such will curate the organization of a packed calendar of talks that will be essential for stimulating reflection on the latest themes in contemporary art. Arte Fiera’s Public Program further underlines the importance of education in art and the attention towards all sectors of the public, from the very young to adults experiencing contemporary art for the first time, with new workshops curated by the Fondazione Golinelli.

Arte Fiera is pleased to confirm once more its close collaboration with the Bologna City Council, which during the days of the event, will present the eighth edition of ART CITY Bologna, the program of events and exhibitions directed by Lorenzo Balbi, artistic Director of MAMbo – Museo d’Arte Moderna di Bologna.

Particular attention has been dedicated to the welcome provided organised for Italian and foreign collectors, coordinated for the first time by Costanza Mazzonis di Pralafera. The VIP Program, scheduled outside of the fair timetable, will offer the opportunity to discover private collections, special itineraries among features of excellence – not only concerning visual art – from the local area, but also guided tours of museums and institutions in Bologna and the surrounding area, such as the Maramotti Collection and MUT – Mutina for Art.

The renewed Arte Fiera showcases its dynamism also in terms of digital communications, on the website and social media channels. The Facebook, YouTube and Instagram pages will bring together and stimulate interactions from thousands of enthusiasts from the world of art. In particular #ArteFiera_Spotlight will cover the opening in real time as well as provide new features from the current art scene in Italy and abroad. Osservatorio Arte Fiera (Arte Fiera Observatory) a short online contribution appearing every Wednesday in which a well-known figure in the art world – a critic, artist, gallerist, collector, journalist etc. – with a link to Arte Fiera and familiar with Bologna and its art scene will present an exhibition to visit, an artwork that left a lasting impression, a place to see, or an artist to rediscover.

These appointments will combine with other new features and online opportunities, providing a notable digital dimension to the forthcoming 44th edition of Arte Fiera.

As part of these collaborations, Arte Fiera is pleased to present the partners that will support an emphasis on quality in the provision of food & wine for the event. The partnership between Arte Fiera and FICO Eataly World Bologna is set to continue with the presence at the Fair of a restaurant and sales point for the products of excellence from the local territory.

The Bistrot Emilia-Romagna will focus on classic local dishes. The VIP lounge for collectors, exhibitors, guests and journalists, will welcome a special guest from the restaurant scene inside a recently renovated architectural setting.

The next edition of Arte Fiera will be held in pavilions 18 and 15, which are directly accessible from a single entrance: Nord Entrance. Arte Fiera provides a shuttle service to connect with Piazza Costituzione.