Exhibitions by major international artists: this is what 2026 will look like for the Fondazione Prada in its Milan and Venice venues. The program will feature, in detail, Cao Fei, Cyprien Gaillard, Mona Hatoum, Arthur Jafa, Richard Prince, and Hito Steyerl.
Opening the Milan exhibition season is Mona Hatoum with an exhibition titled Over, under and in between, which will be open to the public from Jan. 29 to Nov. 9, 2026. The artist has conceived a three-part project designed specifically for the spaces of the Cistern, where the installations use elements typical of her vocabulary such as the spider web, the map and the grid to stimulate a reflection on the instability and precariousness of existence. Each of the three works, while independent, contributes to a physical dialogue with the visitor through the concepts of danger and fragility. Next, from April 9 to Sept. 28, 2026, the Milan venue will host Dash, Cao Fei’s new multimedia project. The result of three years of research conducted in rural areas of China and Southeast Asia, the work analyzes the development of smart agriculture and the impact of the technological revolution in the agricultural sector. Through photography, video installations, virtual reality and documentaries, Cao Fei explores how algorithms are replacing traditional knowledge and redefining the relationship between people and land, raising ecological and social questions.
In conjunction with the Biennale, the Venetian venue of Ca’ Corner della Regina will present the exhibition Helter Skelter: Arthur Jafa and Richard Prince, curated by Nancy Spector, from May 9 to November 23, 2026. The project brings into dialogue Arthur Jafa and Richard Prince, two of the most relevant contemporary artists who, although born ten years apart, share a radical approach to appropriating images drawn from American popular culture, from films to social media. If Jafa reflects on his own African-American identity to reinforce Black art, Prince analyzes white masculinity and the dark side of the American psyche, revealing on this occasion a hitherto unseen creative dialogue between their respective practices.
Returning to Milan, the Podium will host from Nov. 5, 2026 to March 1, 2027 the Global Antiquity research project, curated by Salvatore Settis and Anna Anguissola with the collaboration of Chiara Ballestrazzi. With a layout curated by Rem Koolhaas and AMO/OMA, the exhibition explores the interactions between the cultures of the Mediterranean, East Africa, and Asia between 600 BCE and 900 CE. The exhibition will highlight how Greco-Roman objects in China or Indian artifacts in Europe bear witness to a fluid network of symmetrical and reciprocal relationships. It will also introduce a distinction between the ancient concept of globality, understood as a horizontal and osmotic dynamic, and modern globalization, driven by vertical and economic processes.
At theObservatory, located in Galleria Vittorio Emanuele II, Hito Steyerl’s site-specific project The Island will continue until Oct. 30, 2026. Through a new film and video installation inspired by quantum physics, the artist addresses issues such as artificial intelligence, authoritarian drifts and the climate crisis. In December 2026, the same space will host a collaboration with Cyprien Gaillard focused on the disappearance of public space and the processes of speculation and preservation that shape the contemporary urban fabric.
The film sector will feature Milan’s Cinema Godard, with programming curated by Paolo Moretti. Conceived as a permanent festival, the cinema will offer premieres, retrospectives and meetings with directors and actors in 2026, consolidating collaborations with archives and international institutions. In this context is the Fondazione Prada Film Fund, established in 2025 with an allocation of 1.5 million euros to support independent cinema. The first selected projects and the new call for entries will be announced in February 2026. On the scientific front, fall 2026 will mark the resumption of the activities of Human Brains, the multidisciplinary project dedicated to neuroscience that aims to promote dialogue between scholars and international audiences.
The Foundation’s musical engagement will manifest itself through two collaborations. The partnership with Threes will bring composer Kali Malone to perform on the organ in the Church of Santa Maria Annunciata in Chiesa Rossa on Feb. 4, 2026, where Dan Flavin’s light intervention is located. In the fall, the Luigi Nono Festival in Venice will be renewed with a special event dedicated to the composer. Publishing activity will accompany these initiatives with the publication of five volumes, including three illustrated catalogs for the Dash, Helter Skelter and Global Antiquity exhibitions, and two Notebooks dedicated to the works of Mona Hatoum and Cyprien Gaillard.
Special attention will be paid to the younger generation with the Children’s Academy, which offers free workshops on weekends. The Emotional Colors cycle, curated by Valentina Lucio, Narges Ghorbani and Amin Zarif, will be held until March 8, 2026. In addition, the Schools Academy will allow kindergarten and elementary school students in Milan to participate in activities led by architects, scientists and artists every Wednesday. Finally, in June 2026 the ninth edition of the Laurea Prize will be awarded to students from Milan’s universities (Università degli Studi, Politecnico, Cattolica, Bocconi, IULM and San Raffaele) who have discussed theses on cultural issues.
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| Fondazione Prada 2026 program: new Settis exhibition and Jafa project stand out |
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