by Redazione 31/10/2026
Categories: Contemporary art / Disclaimer
In addition to the 15 acquisitions made by the Fondazione Arte CRT for the GAM and the Castello di Rivoli, the Turin art fair has awarded the three acquisition prizes for the 2026 edition to Ruth Beraha, Gabriel Ribeiro, Gamze Palabiyik, and Fabrizio Prevedello. The winning works will be added to major collections.
Turin’s contemporary art collections are expanding thanks to the acquisition grants awarded at Artissima 2026 and a 300,000-euro fund from the CRT Foundation, which was used to purchase 15 works that will become part of the collections of the GAM – Turin Civic Gallery of Modern and Contemporary Art and the Rivoli Castle – Museum of Contemporary Art.
Let’s start with the three acquisition awards: the Tosetti Value Award for photography went to Ruth Beraha (Milan, 1986), with a special mention for Gabriel Ribeiro ( Rio de Janeiro, 1990); the Matteo Viglietta Award was given to Gamze Palabiyik ( Germany, 1999); the Ettore and Ines Fico Prize was awarded to Fabrizio Prevedello ( Padua, 1972). The awards highlight diverse creative paths, ranging from reflections on collective identities to family memory, and research into the expressive potential of materials.
The Tosetti Value Prize for Photography, sponsored since 2020 by Tosetti Value – The Family Office, was awarded to Ruth Beraha, represented by the Ncontemporary gallery, for her video and audio work *Is this a Library? * (2026). The work stems from a broader exploration of soccer culture, group identity, and the boundary between passion and violence. Beraha uses short black-and-white sequences, shot with a fixed camera during several matches of the English Women’s Super League, over which she superimposes the chants of men’s soccer hooligans, recorded and subsequently re-edited. The contrast between images and sounds lies at the heart of the work: what is seen does not match what is heard, and the lack of correspondence between these two levels brings to the fore issues related to gender, belonging, and community norms. Beraha’s practice, which often draws on personal experience to address social and collective themes, thus takes on a dimension that is both intimate and political. The jury recognized the work’s ability to expand the language of photography through duration and its relationship with sound.
On the occasion of the bicentennial celebrations of the birth of photography, the jury also awarded a special mention to Gabriel Ribeiro, presented by the Foco gallery in Lisbon in the Present Future section, for *Sun Maid II* ( 2025). The work is based on the prolonged exposure of polyurethane foam panels—common materials used for packaging and padding—to sunlight. The sun gradually imprints an image on the surface, transforming the medium into a trace of the photographic process. The work directly evokes the origins of the medium: in 1826, Joseph Niépce had defined his first photographic experiment as “heliography,” meaning “writing by the sun.” Ribeiro takes up that principle and applies it to everyday materials, refocusing attention on photography as an image produced by light and time. The honorable mention specifically recognizes the poetic sensibility with which the artist engages with the origins of the photographic language, alongside images generated by the latest technologies.
The Tosetti Value Prize includes a grant of 2,500 euros, the development of a project in dialogue with “Prospettive. The Economy of Images,” and the acquisition of a work for the Family Office’s Corporate Collection. For 2026, the award will result in a dual acquisition: works by both Beraha and Ribeiro will be added to the corporate collection. The jury consisted of Walter Guadagnini, artistic director of the Exposed Torino Photo Festival; Roberta Tenconi, chief curator of Pirelli HangarBicocca; and the Alterazioni Video collective.
The Matteo Viglietta Award, sponsored by the La Gaia Collection, was awarded to Gamze Palabiyik, presented by the VON&VON Gallery, for *Fabrika / my grandma used to work in a cushion factory, and she used to tell me folktales when I was young* (2025). The work will enter the La Gaia Collection, continuing a tradition of acquisitions that connects contemporary art with everyday materials and objects—a tradition initiated by collector Matteo Viglietta, to whom the award has been dedicated since 2022.
At the heart of Palabiyik’s work lies her family history: the artist’s grandparents, who were German, had emigrated from Turkey to Germany in the 1960s. Family memory intertwines with that of the textile manufacturing tradition through two material elements: a padded satin pillow and an industrial blade. The former recalls the folk tales passed down by her grandmother and becomes the guardian of an intimate memory, linked to rest and intimacy; the latter, on the other hand, evokes the toil and conditions of manual labor in the factory. The jury justified its choice by highlighting the artist’s ability to connect personal memory with collective history, addressing issues such as identity, intergenerational relationships, and the dignity of labor. The reference to Palabiyik’s family history was also linked to the entrepreneurial and personal history of the Viglietta family.
In previous editions, the Matteo Viglietta Award was presented to Vasilis Papageorgiou, nominated by UNA in Piacenza in 2022, Igor Grubić, presented by the Laveronica Gallery in Modica in 2023, Francesca Cataldi, presented by the Gramma_Epsilon Gallery in Athens in 2024, and Davide Stucchi, presented by the Martina Simeti Gallery in Milan in 2025.
The Ettore and Ines Fico Prize, sponsored by the MEF Ettore Fico Museum in Turin and now in its seventeenth edition, was awarded to Fabrizio Prevedello. The award took the form of the acquisition of two works: *Accumulazione per scomparsa (406 A)* (2025), presented by the z2o Sara Zanin Gallery, and *Luogo (436)* ( 2026), from the Cardelli & Fontana Gallery. The jury, composed of museum director Andrea Busto, recognized the artist’s sculptural practice, characterized by the interplay between industrial materials and natural elements.
Prevedello works with materials sourced from the marble quarries of the Apuan Alps, where he lives, combining them with glass and metals. His compositions highlight the differences between the elements used, without attempting to obscure their complexity. The veins and mineral stratifications of the stones become part of a language that evokes abstract landscapes and horizons, while the metallic elements serve as connectors and supports, giving rise to structures suspended between architectural dimensions and informal forms. According to the jury’s interpretation, the artist’s work also engages with the tradition of ancient Chinese painting and its ability to evoke nature through subtle shades and hints of perspective. The relationship with the landscape is, after all, an integral part of his creative process: Prevedello spends time in the quarries and wooded areas around his studio, immersing himself in the places from which the materials for his works originate.
The Ettore and Ines Fico Prize dates back to 2010. Previous winners include Rossella Biscotti, Rä Di Martino, Luca Trevisani, Petrit Halilaj, Lili Reynaud-Dewar, Anne Imhof, Gian Maria Tosatti, David Douard, Georgia Sagri, Guglielmo Castelli, Alessandro Scarabello, Mimosa Echard and Namsal Siedlecki, who tied for the award in 2021; Kate Newby, Francesca Ferreri, and Samuel Nnorom, who also tied in 2023; and Daniele di Girolamo and Giovanni Termini, the winner in 2025.
In addition to the awards, Artissima 2026 also featured the Fondazione Arte CRT’s acquisition campaign, which allocated 300,000 euros toward the purchase of 15 works by 11 artists for the collections of the GAM —the Turin Civic Gallery of Modern and Contemporary Art and the Castello di Rivoli Museum of Contemporary Art. The initiative, which has been active for over twenty-five years, is one of the main ways in which the Foundation supports the fair and contributes to the growth of the city’s public cultural heritage. According to the Foundation, this is the most significant investment in acquisitions in recent years. The fund makes it possible to purchase works directly at the art fair, supporting the work of artists and galleries while simultaneously contributing to the expansion of the two museums’ collections.
There are five acquisitions destined for the Castello di Rivoli: works by Michel Auder (Soissons, 1945), Juliana Frontin (Rio de Janeiro, 1990), Renata Lucas (Ribeirão Preto, 1971), Hu Yun ( Shanghai, 1986), and Akram Zaatari ( Saida, 1966). The GAM, on the other hand, will receive works by Rossella Biscotti ( Molfetta, 1978), Flavio Favelli (Florence, 1967), Linda Fregni Nagler (Stockholm, 1976), Dora Garcia (Valladolid, 1965), Thomas Hirschhorn (Bern, 1957), and Boris Mikhailov ( Kharkiv, 1938).
The selection of works for the Castello di Rivoli was discussed by Director Francesco Manacorda, who highlighted the connection between the selected artistic projects and some of the issues facing contemporary society: “The selection of acquisitions with the Fondazione Arte CRT takes into account developments in the global context, both in the artistic sphere and in civil society. From the consequences of past and recent conflicts (Michel Auder and Akram Zaatari) to industrial extractivism (Hu Yun), and on to the invisible dynamics of power (Renata Lucas) and the search for a space for the imagination (Juliana Frontin), this group of works will allow the Castello di Rivoli to continue telling the story of contemporary urgent issues that artists help us understand.”
The selection was overseen by the Scientific Committee of the Fondazione Arte CRT, composed of Hans Ulrich Obrist, artistic director of the Serpentine Galleries in London; Susanne Pfeffer, director of the Museum MMK für Moderne Kunst in Frankfurt; Vicente Todolì, artistic director of the Fondazione Pirelli HangarBicocca in Milan; Manuel Segade Lodeiro, director of the Museo Nacional Centro de Arte Reina Sofía in Madrid; and Suhanya Raffel, director of the Museum M+ in Hong Kong, who participated remotely. The group worked alongside the directors and chief curators of the two Turin museums, evaluating the proposals in terms of the quality of the artistic research and the development needs of their respective collections.
In commenting on the selections, the Scientific Committee also cited a remark by Mark Twain, who said that “Turin is a truly splendid city,” linking it to the city’s ability to reinterpret and revive artistic legacies that are sometimes overlooked. According to the Committee, many of the acquisitions come from the curated sections of Artissima and address a twofold need: to refocus attention on little-known or forgotten artists and to give visibility to new voices on the international scene. The text also emphasizes the value of contemporary Italian art and the need to maintain an open dialogue with artistic explorations from other cultural contexts.
In this regard, the text invokes the concept of “mondialité” developed by Édouard Glissant, understood as an opportunity to rethink the relationship between globalization and local identities: a global dialogue that does not erase cultural differences but finds a source of enrichment precisely in respecting them.
The new acquisitions are part of a collection that now totals over 1,000 works by more than 400 international artists, representing an investment of over 43 million euros. The collection includes paintings, sculptures, photographs, videos, installations, and works related to the latest trends in contemporary art. The scope and structure of the collection are also illustrated in the Foundation’s new catalog, titled *A Look at the Contemporary: The Fondazione Arte CRT Collection*, which was presented at Artissima on October 29.
What sets the Foundation’s model apart is that the acquired works do not simply remain in the possession of the institution that funded them. Since its inception, the collection has been conceived with a public mission: the works are loaned to the GAM and the Castello di Rivoli, which may use them in their own exhibitions and lend them to other Italian and international institutions. In this way, the acquisitions help to update museum collections and allow the works to be studied, exhibited, and made accessible to a wider audience.
The president of the Fondazione Arte CRT, Patrizia Sandretto Re Rebaudengo, reiterated the role of the acquisition campaign in the foundation’s strategy: “The Fondazione Arte CRT, which operates on behalf of and thanks to the support of Fondazione CRT, renews its support for Artissima, confirming a commitment that over the years has become an integral part of our mission.” The president also emphasized the desire to ensure the continuity of this investment: “The decision to renew the 300,000-euro acquisition fund this year demonstrates our commitment to sustaining a strategic investment in contemporary art. We support the work of the galleries and the artists participating in the fair, while at the same time contributing, through our collection, to the growth of the public collections at the GAM and the Castello di Rivoli. For us, investing in Artissima means believing in Turin’s ability to be an international hub for contemporary artistic research and to continue building a shared cultural heritage that is accessible and intended for future generations.”
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| Artissima 2026: All the Awards and Acquisitions—From Ruth Beraha’s Photography to Fabrizio Prevedello’s Sculptures |
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