29th edition of miartThe 29th edition of miart, the international modern and contemporary art fair, is conceived as a crossroads of ideas, artistic practices, and cultural dialogues, where the connection between different forms of expression takes on the value of an equal and supportive encounter. Suspended between the past and the future, between the historical roots of modern art and the challenges of the contemporary, the event unfolds around the theme of friendship, as mutual support and collective creative strength. Inspired by the centenary of Robert Rauschenberg’s birth, whose work has always explored the power of cooperation and the interaction between languages, miart 2025 invites the public to reflect on art as a shared process, where the plurality of voices is not just tolerated but celebrated.
The three sections of the fair – Established, Emergent, and Portal – offer an eclectic and deeply interconnected overview, spanning over a century of art history and giving voice to both great masters and the most recent experimental research. With the contribution of 179 galleries from 31 countries, miart becomes a laboratory of experimentation, where sculpture, painting, video, and installation intertwine in a continuous dialogue that transcends geographically and temporally defined boundaries. The dialogue, both between artists and institutions, becomes the driving force of a process in which each work is conceived as part of a whole, a weaving of relationships that extends beyond the physical boundaries of the fair.
In a context that extends beyond the pavilions, through projects such as exhibitions dedicated to Rauschenberg and John Giorno, and public art initiatives like Alice Ronchi’s project, miart 2025 presents itself not just as a fair, but as a true platform for cultural production. An event that goes beyond a mere exhibition, becoming a space of interaction between the public and art, between the present and the past, and between different artistic expressions, all united by the desire to overcome any form of isolation and to build, together, a new artistic reality.
Bringing together under one roof 179 galleries from 31 countries and 5 continents, miart reaffirms its central role in the European fair landscape with major returns and significant new entries.
Organized by Fiera Milano with the main partnership of Intesa Sanpaolo, the edition pays tribute to Robert Rauschenberg on the centenary of his birth through museum exhibitions, talks, and projects aimed at exploring his commitment to cooperation and the exchange of ideas.
Focusing on collaboration, miart and Fiera Milano position themselves as promoters and producers of culture, helping to strengthen the city's cultural system's offerings and cohesion.
Milan, March 24, 2025 – Fiera Milano presents the 29th edition of miart, the international fair of modern and contemporary art, led by artistic director Nicola Ricciardi and a renewed team of curators and professionals, animating the spaces of Allianz MiCo in Milan from April 4 to 6, 2025 (VIP preview on Thursday, April 3).
miart 2025 has built its identity and programming around the concept of friendship, understood as equal, reciprocal, lasting, and genuinely supportive. This orientation is reinforced by the title, among friends, borrowed from the last retrospective dedicated to Robert Rauschenberg, the artist to whom the fair is dedicated on the centenary of his birth.
Striking a perfect balance between local specificity and the international nature of the proposals, and with a careful combination of leading Italian realities along with some of the most important foreign galleries, miart presents projects that recount over a century of art history through its three sections – Established, Emergent, Portal. Ranging from masterpieces of the early and mid-20th century to works connected to the most current artistic practices, without neglecting signature design, miart brings sculpture and painting, drawing and installation, video and photography into dialogue within its spaces.
RESEARCH, EXPERIMENTATION, AND DIALOGUES: THE GALLERIES OF MIART 2025In line with the previous edition, 179 galleries from 31 countries and 5 continents will be present at the fair this year.
At the fair's entrance, emphasizing the central role played by a new generation of gallerists within the art system, the Emergent section features 25 galleries offering a glimpse into experimental contemporary practices. Focusing on research, curator Attilia Fattori Franchini has crafted an ambitious section consisting of immersive installations, large-scale site-specific sculptural works, and new creations made specifically for the fair, all aimed at showcasing the most stimulating contemporary practices.
Continuing along the exhibition path, one encounters Established, the main section that offers a selection of great masters of modern art alongside contemporary practices. Numerous dialogues between artists, often from different generations, solo shows, and museum-quality projects highlight the most significant artistic movements of the last century.
Established also serves as a complement to the offerings of Milanese institutions during the Milano Art Week 2025 – an event promoted by the Municipality of Milan – Culture in collaboration with the Associazione Arte Totale – with projects inspired by the city's exhibitions, often reflecting the curatorial theme of the edition, among friends.
Finally, Portal, curated for the first time by Alessio Antoniolli – Director of Triangle Network in London and curator of Fondazione Memmo in Rome – brings together ten galleries for as many projects that invite us to question our understanding of fixed geographies, languages, and temporalities. The section draws inspiration from the miart theme – among friends – and Rauschenberg's visionary approach to art as a collective process. This section rejects a singular vision of the world, favoring dynamic processes and interconnected paths aiming for greater collaboration and harmonious coexistence.
The projects and galleries of miart 2025 contribute to creating a platform capable of showcasing a multiplicity of voices and constantly evolving realities, offering a richer and more nuanced vision of the past, a thoughtful look at the present, and imagining and building multiple futures.
AWARDS, ACQUISITION FUNDS, AND SPECIAL PROJECTS: THE VALUE OF COLLABORATION AT MIART 2025In addition to the extraordinary selection of galleries and exhibition projects, miart is enriched by a series of initiatives that, in line with the theme of this edition, embody the value of collaboration, resulting in a vibrant program of special initiatives, awards, and acquisition funds.
The collaboration with the Intesa Sanpaolo Group is renewed, supporting the event as a main partner by sharing the values of internationality, excellence, and cultural development of the territory. The goal is to consolidate Milan’s central role in the national and international panorama and offer the city an additional driver of economic, cultural, and civil growth. In the bank's lounge area, visitors to miart can admire Robert Rauschenberg’s masterpiece Blue Exit from the Combine Painting series, which established the American master as a leading figure in contemporary international painting. Moreover, Intesa Sanpaolo Private Banking will present its innovative and comprehensive wealth management solutions, with a special focus on the art advisory service, dedicated to those who consider art a diversified growth opportunity for their assets.
The Fondazione Fiera Milano Acquisition Fund, established in 2012, is confirmed. Valued at 100,000 euros, the Fund is intended for works of art that will enhance the Fondazione Fiera Milano collection, currently housed within the Palazzina degli Orafi, the foundation's headquarters, comprising over 140 works representing different artistic languages. All artworks can be viewed on the foundation's website.
The Herno Prize celebrates its tenth participation at miart by awarding 10,000 euros to the booth with the best exhibition project. To mark this special occasion, the Caffè Letterario by Herno will also be inaugurated, a space dedicated to artist book presentations and conversations among event protagonists, which will also host the award ceremony for the winning gallery.
The LCA Law Firm Prize for Emergent, born from the collaboration with LCA Law Firm, also reaches its tenth edition, awarding 4,000 euros to the gallery with the best presentation within the Emergent section.
Reaching its third edition, the Orbital Cultura - Nexi Group Prize is the only award at miart exclusively dedicated to photography in all its forms. For the first time, it will have a dedicated space at the fair to present works produced during previous editions of the award. The Matteo Visconti di Modrone Prize, in memory of the President of the Fonderia Artistica Battaglia, valued at 10,000 euros, will be awarded to an artist who will be able to create their work at the foundry, with the assistance and expertise of its artisans.
As part of the awards and commissions, the SZ Sugar miart commission, born in collaboration with SZ Sugar (a publishing house dedicated to contemporary classical music, founded in 1907 as Edizioni Suvini Zerboni and now part of Sugar Music Group), is also confirmed. This edition gave participating galleries the opportunity to have their artists interpret Music for an End, a composition by Ennio Morricone for choir, orchestra, and magnetic tape featuring a recording of a poem by Pier Paolo Pasolini read by the author. Among the proposals received and evaluated by SZ Sugar with the support of a committee chaired by Michele Bertolino, curator of the Fondazione Sandretto Re Rebaudengo, Mario Airò’s proposal, represented by VISTAMARE (Pescara, Milan), was deemed the most deserving. The final work will be presented at the fair in the space dedicated to the music publishing house.
Also confirmed is the presence of the Rotary Club Milano Brera Prize for Contemporary Art and Young Artists—established in 2009 as the first recognition within miart and now in its fifteenth edition—which provides for the acquisition of a work by an emerging or mid-career artist to be donated to the Museo del Novecento in Milan. The Massimo Giorgetti Prize, now in its third edition and born from the will of the designer and collector Massimo Giorgetti to support young artists at the beginning of their careers, awards a prize of 5,000 euros.
The assignment of these prestigious recognitions will be made possible thanks to the invaluable contribution, as jurors, of international directors and curators of the highest level, such as Cecilia Alemani, Director of Donald R. Mullen Jr. and Chief Curator of High Line Art in New York, Goedele Bartholomeeusen, Director of the Museum Dhondt-Dhaenens of Sint-Martens Latem, Julia Blaut, Senior Director of Cultural Affairs of the Robert Rauschenberg Foundation in New York, and many others.
AMONG FRIENDS: MIART AND FIERA MILANO, A LEADING ROLE IN SUPPORTING ART AND CULTUREOpenness to the world, interdisciplinarity, commitment to dialogue, and collaboration are the principles at the core of Robert Rauschenberg's work, principles that miart and Fiera Milano have adopted, leveraging the network of relationships built over the years to become a driving force for an ideal festival of contemporary arts, producers of culture both inside and outside the fair, even beyond the temporal limits of the event.
This commitment takes shape in a series of initiatives that concretely embody the theme of "friendship" in the artistic field, understood as mutual support among all the stakeholders in the art system: fairs, museums, public and private institutions, galleries, artists, curators, collectors, and independent spaces.
Among the first initiatives, in chronological order, are the talks among friends, which miart inaugurated last November and will continue beyond the event's dates in collaboration with the Prada Foundation, Museo del Novecento, PAC – Pavilion of Contemporary Art, Pirelli Hangar Bicocca, and Triennale Milano. This series of meetings celebrates miart's and Milan's institutions' ability to foster collaborations and synergies that go beyond the public-private divide, stepping out of traditional boundaries and exploring new disciplines or contaminating public spaces (full program here).
Part of the Milano Art Week program, during miart, Rauschenberg and the Novecento will be inaugurated at the Museo del Novecento, an exhibition promoted by the Municipality of Milan – Culture in collaboration with miart and Fiera Milano, curated by Gianfranco Maraniello and Nicola Ricciardi with Viviana Bertanzetti. This project builds a bridge between the artist's works and some of the most significant masterpieces in the museum's collections, intertwining the American artist's vision with the rich fabric of 20th-century Italian art.
At the spaces of Triennale Milano, John Giorno: a Labour of LOVE, curated by Nicola Ricciardi and Eleonora Molignani, will showcase – through archive materials from Giorno Poetry Systems (GPS) – the traces of Giorno's friendships and collaborations with some of the most significant figures of the 20th century: from Robert Rauschenberg to John Cage, from Keith Haring to Patti Smith and Andy Warhol, just to name a few. On Saturday, April 5th, as part of miart and Milano Art Week, John Giorno: poetry readings & free tattoos will be held, a special event where a professional actor selected by Umberto Angelini, Artistic Director of Triennale Milano Teatro, will read Giorno’s poems, and the tattoo artist Cursed Lover will tattoo selected verses of the American poet for free using the handpoke technique.
These exhibitions are also realized thanks to the support of Fiera Milano, whose involvement, in line with the among friends theme, emphasizes the desire to strengthen the offerings and cohesion of the city's cultural system, overcoming the spatial limit of the event, which extends beyond the fair halls to the city.
In addition to the institutional partnership with ADI Design Museum, Fiera Milano also supports the world of culture by producing a site-specific work by artist Alice Ronchi (born 1989), who has envisioned transforming a passage space into a poetic promenade inspired by a fantastic forest where organic and evocative silhouettes interact with the surrounding environment thanks to the materials chosen, creating a narrative element and an atmosphere of dreamlike quality. A meeting between the imagined nature and industrial construction, which gives this location a new poetic identity.
Rauschenberg's work and the spirit that inspired it will permeate the entire city. For instance, at the Caveau delle Gallerie d’Italia, the museum complex of the Intesa Sanpaolo Group, a selection of his masterpieces from the Luigi and Peppino Agrati Collection, now part of the Intesa Sanpaolo Group’s collections thanks to the bequest of Cavalier Luigi Agrati, will be on display: Scripture, 1974, Gulf, 1969, Clearing, 1969.
The support of the Robert Rauschenberg Foundation, which included miart among its international partners in the year of the centenary, has been crucial for making the American artist's work visible to the Italian public through many projects dedicated to him, created thanks to the fair.
This rich program of events is made possible by what happens inside the Allianz MiCo pavilion, in a cycle of references inside and outside the fair, contributing to the programming of this year's Milano Art Week edition.
Press office miart: Lara Facco: T. +39 02 36565133 / M. +39 349 2529989 / E.
[email protected]Denise Solenghi: M. +39 333 3086921 / E.
[email protected]Marta Zanichelli: M. +39 339 2816693 / E.
[email protected]Press office Fiera Milano:
Elisa Panico Cristofoli: T. +39 0249977786 / M. +39 331 6716900 / E.
[email protected]miart 2025
April 4 - 6, 2025
Preview: April 3, 2025
Allianz MiCo Central - Level 0 (formerly pad. 3)
Viale Lodovico Scarampo, Milan
www.miart.it
