Born on the model of the Italian Capital of Culture, and on the basis of the success of satellite initiatives such as the Italian Capital of Books – Pesaro and Genoa respectively, for 2024 – the initiative that will lead to the identification of the first (of a long series) Italian Capital of contemporary art. Promoted by the Minister of Culture Gennaro Sangiuliano the project will take shape starting from 2026when the first designated city will come “into office”, offering cultural programming aimed at enhancing contemporary art and its relationship with the urban and territorial context, with the non-secondary objective of promoting alternative tourist circuits, examining the specificities and the potential of cities unfairly considered “minor”.
The Italian capital of contemporary art to “build the past of the future”
On this point, as on the need to “build the past of the future“, the Minister insists in claiming paternity of the initiative: “We have carried forward the initiatives of my predecessors with conviction, but we have also tried to create something of our own, to imprint our own vision. And I am convinced that this appointment will be successful: today we rightly carry forward the greatness of our past, but we must give today’s young people the opportunity to grow, to create our future memory. Then there is the commitment to the promotion of the territories, we want to turn the spotlight on medium-small cities, which around the focus on contemporary art will be able to place music, dance, cinema, articulate a density of ideas and projects of artistic expression. For a Municipality this also means being able to build citizen participation in a collective public moment”.
It is no coincidence that the Undersecretary for Culture Lucia Borgonzoni hopes for the response of “many small municipalities, even in aggregate form. The announcement also asks to recover places and leave permanent works in the area, with a long-term vision. And this will help us in our aim of delocalizing the idea of a city of art also for the benefit of places considered minor, which can find their dimension in the contemporary world, and therefore aspire to internationality. It is not a given that those involved in art have a vision for the future, but the ministry must give legs to today’s artists and provide economic resources to contemporary art”.
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The process to elect the Italian capital of contemporary art
How will the administrative procedure be structured to elect the first Italian capital of contemporary art? The coordinates are provided by the General Director of Contemporary Creativity of the MiC, Angelo Piero Cappellowhich also specifies the amount of the allocation made available by the ministry, equal to 1 million euros,”which will become an incentive for these resources to be multiplied in synergy between public and private and with local authorities”. “I would define the initiative as futuristic” explains Cappello “because it intercepts well in advance what we are detecting happening in the world of contemporary art, functional on the one hand to urban regeneration which recovers environments also as cultural and social spaces, and devoted to an ever greater tendency towards hybridisation, which allows multiple languages to coexist at the same time. And we want to solicit not simply a project, but a processwhich in individual territorial realities can become a path to be developed over a long time, bringing together various forms of art, stimulating synergy with local communities and attracting economic resources”. Because of this, by June 30, 2024, the Municipalities interested in participating – individually or in aggregate – will have to respond to the public notice by presenting their project, as per the specifications indicated in the announcement. Among the objectives to be pursued: the redevelopment of areas and spaces to be used for the production and enjoyment of contemporary art; the promotion of local skills in the sector of contemporary creativity, also involving young talents and national and international contemporary artists; promoting innovation and entrepreneurship in the visual, performing and creative sectors. But also the implementation of new technologies and sustainability in the context of cultural innovation.
By September 15th, an independent third-party commission (five independent experts of proven fame in the sector of contemporary culture and visual arts) will evaluate the applications, to select a maximum of 5 projects, to be presented at a public hearing on October 14th. Then it will be up to the Minister to ratify the jury’s final decision by October 30th. Stages marked out rigorously, in order to identify the winning project before the end of 2024, and disburse the first tranche of 500 thousand euros to the designated capital by 31 December. The second tranche will be made available within the first half of 2025, to encourage the development of the complex project which will debut in 2026.
Livia Montagnoli
Here is the announcement to present the project dossier as the Italian capital of contemporary art
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