The project for supporting and promoting young artists, which has united Maxxi and Bulgari since 2018 and launched many new talents on the international scene over the years, returns for its fourth edition.

Riccardo Benassi, Monia Ben Hamouda and Binta Diaw are the three finalists.

The exhibition opens with Assenzahah Essenzahah by Riccardo Benassi. Inside the museum’s freight elevator, two robotic dogs perform choreographies created by the artist, moving through space accompanied by a musical composition and laser text projected on the walls.

In the centre of the space is the work by Binta Diaw, Juroom ñaar. It is inspired by a historical event of 1819, commemorated by the artist with seven columns of coal. Seven are, in fact, the women of the Senegalese village of Nder who died by setting themselves on fire to avoid slavery following the Moorish invasion.

Monia Ben Hamouda’s Theology of collapse (the myth of past) I-X concludes the exhibition. The work consists of ten laser-carved iron panels with motifs inspired by Islamic calligraphy and mosques. The plates are installed on the gallery’s back wall, creating a collapsing effect that evokes the fragility of contemporary identities.

Their site-specific works, created especially for the Prize, are presented in the spaces of the sala Gian Ferrari. At the end of the exhibition project, the museum will acquire the winner’s work.