Opinions

AlUla, Saudi Arabia: is the new global art center in the middle of the desert?

Anancient oasis, sculpted by red sand canyons and centuries-old palm groves, is being transformed into one of the boldest cultural geographies of the 21st century. Al-'Ula (or AlUla), a remote region in northwesternSaudi Arabia, is no longer just a U...
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Aldo Grasso criticizes Jacopo Veneziani for being an influencer on Rai 3. But Grasso is also an influencer for old people

For the past few hours I've been noticing in my bubble a certain overexcitement over Aldo Grasso's critique in the Corriere newspaper of Jacopo Veneziani's program ("Vita da artista"), this time more fierce than six months ago, when Veneziani got awa...
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Art Italy is like the national soccer team: off the world stage. Problems and solutions

In the catalog of Exit, an exhibition on "young Italian art" curated by Francesco Bonami in 2002 at the Fondazione Sandretto Re Rebaudengo, Massimiliano Gioni, now curator at the New Museum in New York, defines young Italian artists this way: "Italy ...
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On the future of Italian art (and its relevance): how is the system doing?

The question about the marginality and relevance of Italian art today in relation to the international context is part of a long-standing debate whose parameters are partly outdated. In the globalized context in which Italy participates, one should a...
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Neurodivergent art rewrites visual language. Here's how

Something profound is happening in the contemporary art world: the increasingly visible entry of neurodivergent experiences, not only as the subject of works, but as a force that transforms display, perception, and visual language itself. Museum inst...
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Why did the National Gallery of Umbria pay 100,000 euros to GNAM for the Klimt loan?

For what reasons, in May 2024, did the National Gallery of Umbria pay a sum of 100 thousand euros to the National Gallery of Modern and Contemporary Art for the loan of Gustav Klimt's The Three Ages ? Was an exception made to the guidelines governing...
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Carrà beats Botticelli's Venus: why we like the Ministry of Culture's campaign

What to say. I, for one, liked the latest promotional video made by the Ministry of Culture, and very much so. The new communication campaign is called Felicità (Happiness ) and I assume it takes its name from the 1974 song Felicità, t&...
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What will be the future of cultural work in the time of AI? We ask ChatGPT

This article was not written by ChatGPT, but with ChatGPT. In the sense that I interviewed ChatGPT, literally. Another small premise: I work in the cultural field and write, by trade, texts of a different nature. And yes, I use ChatGPT often. To proo...
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Biennial without Italians...of course! But have we seen them, the Italians?

Yes, there are, Italian artists: they are the ones helped and trained in Italy and who have been taking Italian Council grant funding for more than 10 years. And we also have their mentors who, with pats on the back and useless power plays, help them...
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Venice Biennale, misunderstandings about free art and the weight of soft power

Since the issue of the Russian presence at the Venice Biennale has become common knowledge, the social pages of newspapers and art magazines, including the one I direct, have become a receptacle for amiable quips about the freedom of art (to which, f...
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Venice Biennale without Italians: it happens because we are too foreign-oriented

Call me nostalgic, but I remain of the opinion that the Italian Pavilion should be, as it once was, at the Giardini, and not at the Arsenale, as the first view for entry to the event. Call me a nationalist if what I think is that, as is the case else...
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Venice Biennale without Italians? We would have been surprised if there were!

Of course, the first reaction at the end of the Venice Biennale press conference In minor keys, in a warm (and loud) voice, was surprise: "Not even an Italian artist!" But almost simultaneously, in a low voice (having reflected just enough to catch o...
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Russia at the Venice Biennale 2026: don't call it dialogue

We could hardly have imagined, even a couple of weeks ago, that we would be forced to see a Venice Biennale this year that reopens its doors to Russia. A legitimization, a rehabilitation in all respects. Let's start immediately with an observation: t...
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Does Biennale 2026 have no Italians because the curatorial team inherited an unfinished list?

I reached out via Instagram to Rory Tsapayi, a member of the Venice Biennale curatorial team who, since May 2025, has been overseeing the implementation of this year's international exhibition . After the death on May 10, 2025, of artistic director K...
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Venice Biennale, the spirit changes and Italian art remains offstage

Perhaps the spirit of the Biennale is destined to change. The world in which we live has changed, the so-called "art system" is showing cracks that were once unsuspected, and the figures animating it-artists, critics, curators, public and private ins...
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Italian art is irrelevant because it lacks adequate critical literature

I scroll through contrarian and self-defensive comments. Too much. I would like to disassociate myself a bit from the general mobilization. Undoubtedly, there has been a lack, on the curatorial side, of any cultural-diplomatic sensitivity or tact, an...
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