Ventesima Giornata del Contemporaneo

Open studio promoted by AMACI and sponsored by the General Directorate for Contemporary Creativity of the Ministry of Culture. As part of the day, meetings for students and visits to the shared studio in the Gorla neighbourhood.

Bergamo, 25 September – Saturday 12 October 2024 sees the return of the Giornata del Contemporaneo, the major event that has been bringing contemporary art to the wider public since 2005. Promoted by AMACI – Associazione dei Musei d’Arte Contemporanea Italiani, the Giornata del Contemporaneo is realised with the support of the General Directorate for Contemporary Creativity of the Ministry of Culture and in collaboration with the General Directorate for Public and Cultural Diplomacy of the Ministry of Foreign Affairs and International Cooperation. Now in its twentieth edition, the Giornata del Contemporaneo will, as always, involve museums, foundations, public and private institutions, galleries, studios and artists’ spaces throughout the country, recounting the vitality of contemporary art in Italy. The guiding image of this twentieth edition of the Giornata del Contemporaneo is the work Donna in gabbia (1975-2024) by Tomaso Binga (pseudonym of Bianca Pucciarelli Menna, Salerno, 1931), the Italian artist chosen by the Directors of the AMACI museums after Michelangelo Pistoletto (2006), Maurizio Cattelan (2007), Paola Pivi (2008), Luigi Ontani (2009), Stefano Arienti (2010), Giulio Paolini (2011), Francesco Vezzoli (2012), Marzia Migliora (2013), Adrian Paci (2014), Alfredo Pirri (2015), Emilio Isgrò (2016), Liliana Moro (2017), Marcello Maloberti (2018), Eva Marisaldi (2019), Armin Linke (2021), Giorgio Andreotta Calò (2022) and Binta Diaw (2023). The image proposed by Tomaso Binga for the Twentieth Giornata del Contemporaneo is taken from a 1974 performance in which the artist, feminist and women’s rights activist, presented herself with her head enclosed in a canary cage, being fed by male hands: a reflection on the condition of constrictive subalternity of women, but, more generally, on the inequalities that are based on privilege and on forms of control, often presented as care and protection. The canary cage thus becomes a barrier not only physical, but also metaphorical, on the inaccessibility to freedom as an inalienable right and to all the tools and possibilities that can bring each of us to a condition of greater awareness and emancipation. And it is precisely accessibility, in its broadest sense, that will be the theme of this Giornata del Contemporaneo, in line with ICOM’s new definition of museum (Prague, 24 August 2022) which reads: “The museum is a not-for-profit, permanent institution in the service of society that researches, collects, conserves, interprets and exhibits tangible and intangible heritage. Open to the public, accessible and inclusive, museums foster diversity and sustainability. They operate and communicate ethically, professionally and with the participation of communities, offering varied experiences for education, enjoyment, reflection and knowledge sharing.” Thanks to the support of the General Directorate for Contemporary Creativity of the Ministry of Culture and to the collaboration with the General Directorate for Public and Cultural Diplomacy of the Ministry of Foreign Affairs and International Cooperation, the Giornata del Contemporaneo will renew the involvement of the MAECI’s diplomatic-consular network composed of Embassies, Consulates and Italian Cultural Institutes, extending abroad from Sunday 6 to Saturday 12 October 2024 and encouraging the participation of AMACI Directors in events organised by the Farnesina’s foreign network and by entities active in the relevant countries. As in past editions, the event will maintain various clusters of activities, all free of charge: an ad hoc programme by the AMACI member museums, initiatives developed in collaboration with the MAECI’s foreign network, the involvement of the network of Contemporary Places promoted by the General Directorate for Contemporary Creativity of the Ministry of Culture, and the proposals of the participating organisations. A very rich calendar of appointments highlighting the widespread network of entities promoting different contemporary languages on the national and international territory. Moreover, to celebrate the twentieth anniversary of the Giornata del Contemporaneo, AMACI has conceived and curated the project Treccani Arte x AMACI, in collaboration with Treccani Arte: a series of limited-edition fine art multiples produced by Giorgio Andreotta Calò, Stefano Arienti, Tomaso Binga, Binta Diaw, Emilio Isgrò, Eva Marisaldi, Marzia Migliora, Liliana Moro, Adrian Paci, Giulio Paolini, Alfredo Pirri and Michelangelo Pistoletto, all artists who over these twenty editions have signed the guiding image of the event. As testimony to the consolidated importance of the event and the significance of its role in the national system, the Head of State Sergio Mattarella has again this year conferred upon the Giornata del Contemporaneo the Medal of the President of the Republic. The event is realised with the support of the General Directorate for Contemporary Creativity of the Ministry of Culture, with the collaboration of the General Directorate for Public and Cultural Diplomacy of the Ministry of Foreign Affairs and International Cooperation and with the patronage of the Representation in Italy of the European Commission, the Chamber of Deputies, the Conference of Regions and Autonomous Provinces, UPI – Union of Italian Provinces, ANCI – National Association of Italian Municipalities and ICOM Italia. The Giornata del Contemporaneo benefits from the Partnership with Alfasigma, the Media Partnership with Il Giornale dell’Arte and Rai Cultura and the Technical Sponsorship of Artshell.