MiC initiates cultural bridge between Italy and Mozambique on contemporary art

On April 20, 2026, the Italy-Mozambique project began in Maputo, Mozambique. A Bridge Made in Art, a cultural partnership initiative that will run until June 2027 and involves Italy and Mozambique in the contemporary art sector through an articulated program of educational and exhibition activities.

The project is promoted by the Directorate General for Contemporary Creativity of the Ministry of Culture, the Mission Unit for Cultural Cooperation with Africa and the Wider Mediterranean, and the National Museums of Perugia - Regional Directorate National Museums of Umbria. It is being carried out in collaboration with the Italian Embassy in Maputo and a network of Mozambican cultural institutions active in the local and international art scene.

Partners involved include the UNESCO Delegation in Maputo, the Escola de Comunicação e Artes of Universidade Eduardo Mondlane, which will host the workshop sessions, the Fundação Leite Couto, the Museu Mafalala, the Núcleo de Arte, the Institut Supérieur des Arts et de la Culture, and the Arte de Gema Gallery. The project layout also envisions the progressive participation of additional contemporary art practitioners as the activities develop.

The initiative is part of the international actions of the Directorate General for Contemporary Creativity and the Mission Unit for Cultural Cooperation with Africa and the Wider Mediterranean, in coherence with the so-called Mattei Plan for Africa, a program launched between 2023 and 2024 with the stated goal of redefining relations between Italy and the African continent through models of cooperation considered equal and oriented toward the creation of mutual benefits.

In this framework, the Italy-Mozambique project takes the shape of one of the plan’s cultural application tools, with the intention of strengthening bilateral relations through contemporary artistic production and the exchange of expertise between institutions and operators of the two countries. Relations between Italy and Mozambique have an established history dating back to 1975, the year of the African country’s independence, and have developed over time in areas such as architecture, archaeology and literature. This includes figures such as writer Mia Couto and artist Bertina Lopes, whose work has helped consolidate cultural connections between the two countries. In particular, Lopes’ experience between Mozambique and Italy, with its Roman roots, has been pointed to as an element in bilateral artistic relations and the cultural climate that preceded the 1992 Peace Accords.

The project includes a program of thematic workshops dedicated to visual arts, photography, curating, design and the enhancement of contemporary creativity. The activities, coordinated by the National Museums of Perugia - Regional Directorate of National Museums of Umbria, consist of a training and co-creation process aimed at Mozambican students, artists and cultural workers, with the aim of fostering a comparison with practices and methodologies of the Italian art system and, in parallel, to promote a bidirectional circulation of skills.

The workshop sessions are scheduled at three separate times: April 20-24, 2026; June 1-5, 2026; and October 19-23, 2026. Each cycle alternates theoretical and practical activities and addresses a number of themes identified by the promoters as central to the dialogue between the two cultural contexts. These include the relationship between ancient and contemporary art, exhibition design and curatorship, communication and promotion of exhibition projects and art production, contemporary art techniques, art market dynamics, and how to document exhibitions and artists’ work. The group of professionals involved in the early stages of the project includes curators, artists and photographers from Italy and Mozambique.

For the Mozambican side, curators Elia Gemuce, Ivan Laranjeira, Rafael Mouzinho and Carolina Vilalva are participating. For the Italian side, curators Lorenzo Balbi, Giuliana Benassi, Gabriele Simongini and Andrea Viliani are involved. The artists include Bruno Ceccobelli, Matteo Montani, Alice Pasquini, and Pietro Ruffo, while the photographic sphere is represented by Marco Giugliarelli and Giordano Simoncini. The project also envisions the subsequent involvement of additional professionals in the field.

The conclusion of the journey is planned with a group exhibition that will feature works by Italian and Mozambican artists. The exhibition will be hosted at the Museum of Natural History in Maputo, recently refurbished with the contribution of the Italian Embassy in Maputo, as part of the cultural activities related to the Mozita 2026 exhibition.

The project was presented in Rome at the Foreign Press Conference Room. Speakers included the Ambassador of Italy in Maputo Gabriele Phillip Annis, Angelo Piero Cappello, Director General of Contemporary Creativity and Director of the Mission Unit for Cultural Cooperation Projects withAfrica and the Wider Mediterranean of the Ministry of Culture, Costantino D’Orazio, Director of the National Museums of Perugia - Regional Directorate National Museums of Umbria, and Alcinda Da Costa Salvado, Counsellor of the Embassy of the Republic of Mozambique in Italy.

MiC initiates cultural bridge between Italy and Mozambique on contemporary art

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