Marina Abramović in Florence, great public success: 180,000 visitors of whom 70% women and 50% under 30

The exhibition The Cleaner, the first Italian retrospective dedicated to Marina Abramović, and held at Palazzo Strozzi in Florence, closed with a great success with the public: in fact, the show reached the record number of 180,000 visitors, placing it as one of the most visited contemporary art exhibitions ever in Italy. From Palazzo Strozzi, they let it be known that the public appreciated the quality of the works on display and the topicality of the themes dealt with. And the numbers seem to have proved the Florentine institution right. An analysis of visitors showed that more than 70 percent of the public was female and more than 50 percent were under 30. The participation of the local audience was good, accounting for 34 percent of the total number of visitors. Thirty-eight percent of visitors are the tourist public (Italian and foreign) and 28 percent are the excursion public (in Florence for a single day).

Palazzo Strozzi also emphasizes the extraordinary nature of the figure of about 70,000 “exclusive” visitors, that is, those who chose to travel to Florence primarily to visit the exhibition at Palazzo Strozzi. Again, important is the presence of new audiences: 46% of the total number of visitors (nearly 80,000 people) visited Palazzo Strozzi’s exhibition spaces for the first time on the occasion of the exhibition, and 85% of them say they plan to return for future exhibitions. 97% of the audience said they were fully satisfied with the experience.

In terms of social media communication, 2.1 million people were reached on Facebook on the occasion of the exhibition, and on average more than 10 thousand people were interested by each new post. The five videos posted on social gained 600 thousand views and over 20 thousand were reactions (likes, comments, shares). Same trend was registered on Instagram: over one million people were reached and about 9,000 each time a new update was posted, collecting a total of 90 thousand likes on all content. During the period of the exhibition (September 21, 2018 to January 20, 2019), views of the www.palazzostrozzi.org website page related to the exhibition Marina Abramović. The Cleaner totaled 750,000, a record figure compared to past exhibitions.

“Hosting such a retrospective here at Palazzo Strozzi means confirming, once again, its vocation for the contemporary,” says Arturo Galansino, General Director of the Fondazione Palazzo Strozzi. “The excellent result confirms the validity of an offer, which continues to attract audiences and provoke debate, keeping faith with the Fondazione’s design of bringing quality cultural events of international significance to Florence. Marina Abramović through her profound artistic research has spanned half a century challenging limits, reinventing the relationship with the public, reconfiguring the very concept of performance and indelibly entering the collective imagination.”

The artist, on the other hand, commented, “Being the first woman to exhibit at Palazzo Strozzi was an immense responsibility for me. I am delighted with the great public response to the exhibition, so much so that it made it one of the most visited in the history of Palazzo Strozzi. I have always had a special relationship with Italy and to be back here, after many years, with such an important event for my career is very gratifying.”

Marina Abramović in Florence, great public success: 180,000 visitors of whom 70% women and 50% under 30

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