This question inspired the major innovations of the Giornata del Contemporaneo 2020, designed to respond to the exceptional nature of the moment being experienced, which had a strong influence not only on the planning and running of cultural activities, but also on how each of us perceives the meaning of art and culture today. In addition to moving the event’s date from October to December, it was decided to adopt a hybrid format, with online and offline offerings: the changed context required a suspension of the event’s traditional format and an updated edition with adjustments to ensure it could run on a dual track, enabling all participants to take part on both fronts, or purely digitally, joining the major communication campaign launched under the hashtag #giornatadelcontemporaneo.
Furthermore, to convey the endless facets of the contemporary, the event’s very identity was entrusted to a digital mosaic made up of works by 20 artists, put forward by an equal number of AMACI museums, rather than using the traditional guiding image created by a single artist. The choice of a guiding image made up of previews of the 20 works by Paola Angelini (Ca’ Pesaro), Meris Angioletti (GAMeC), Barbara and Ale (PAC), Cristian Chironi (Museion), Comunità Artistica Nuovo Forno del Pane (MAMbo), Patrizio Di Massimo (Castello di Rivoli), Andrea Facco (GAM Verona), Giovanni Gaggia (Musma), Barbara Gamper (Kunst Merano), Silvia Giambrone (Museo del Novecento), Andrea Mastrovito (Palazzo Fabroni), Marzia Migliora (MA*GA), Nunzio (ICG), Nicola Pecoraro (MACRO), Luca Pozzi (FMAV), Alessandro Sambini (Mart), Marinella Senatore (Centro Pecci), Francesco Simeti (MAN), Justin Randolph Thompson (Madre) and Emilio Vavarella (MAXXI) is intended as a direct call to plurality, to that sense of community which characterised the work of so many museums in the difficult context of lockdown and continues to be a central pillar of their activities in overcoming the obstacles and difficulties arising from restrictions and the new rules of social life.
The Directorate-General for Contemporary Creativity of the MiBACT also involved its own Luoghi del Contemporaneo network, proposing an ad hoc project for this sixteenth edition — I #Luoghidelcontemporaneo per la #giornatadelcontemporaneo — through the creation of “video snippets” telling the story of spaces, exhibitions, initiatives and much more. The contributions can be viewed on the DGCC’s YouTube channel, in the playlist dedicated to the Giornata del Contemporaneo.
Enriching the event’s programme, this year too, was the Giornata del Contemporaneo – Italian Contemporary Art, with the participation of MAECI’s overseas network, and in particular the Italian Cultural Institutes abroad taking part as participating venues, promoting Italian creativity beyond national borders through a schedule of digital activities. Thanks to the collaboration established in recent years with the Ministry of Foreign Affairs and International Cooperation, and to the coordination put in place since 2019 by the DGSP – MAECI’s Directorate-General for the Promotion of the Country System – and the DGCC – MiBACT’s Directorate-General for Contemporary Creativity, from 5 to 11 December Embassies, Consulates and Italian Cultural Institutes abroad also organised, within their areas of responsibility (and in the ways permitted), debates, conferences, exhibitions and activities promoting contemporary Italian art and culture. Participants included the Italian Embassy in Vietnam, and the Italian Cultural Institutes of Abu Dhabi, Addis Ababa, Copenhagen, Hanoi, Helsinki, Lisbon, Los Angeles, Stockholm, Tel Aviv and Tirana.
Once again this year, as in past editions, MAECI’s overseas network involved some of the directors and curators of the AMACI museums in dedicated meetings: Lorenzo Balbi, Director of MAMbo, in conversation with the Director of the IIC in Prague; Elisabetta Barisoni, Head of Ca’ Pesaro – International Gallery of Modern Art, taking part with the Director of the IIC in Abu Dhabi in a meeting that also involved the artist Paola Angelini; Cristiana Perrella, Director of the Centro per l’arte contemporanea Luigi Pecci in Prato, in discussion with the Director of the IIC in Toronto; and Luigi Fassi, Director of the MAN in Nuoro, taking part in a round table organised by the IIC in Lisbon. For the occasion, webinars were also held with artists featured in the second volume of I Quaderni della Collezione — Elisa Giardina Papa in conversation with the Director of the IIC in San Francisco; Martina Menegon with the Director of the IIC in Vienna; Formafantasma with the Director of the IIC in Amsterdam; and Danilo Correale with the Director of the IIC in Washington.
More than 800 organisations took part in the event, and the Giornata del Contemporaneo confirmed itself, even in the midst of the emergency being experienced, as one of the sector’s most eagerly awaited events.
Furthermore, thanks to this hybrid format, for the first time the Giornata del Contemporaneo also saw the direct involvement, in its communication campaign, of organisations promoting contemporary art linked to the world of publishing, the press and blogs.
From 5 to 11 December 2020, all the digital projects put forward by the AMACI museums, the videos from the Luoghi del Contemporaneo network of the MiBACT’s Directorate-General for Contemporary Creativity, the list of all the activities organised by MAECI’s overseas network, and the names of all those taking part in the Giornata del Contemporaneo could be viewed on the website giornatadelcontemporaneo.org.
Event promoted by
AMACI – Association of Italian Contemporary Art Museums
With the support of
Directorate-General for Contemporary Creativity of the MiBACT
In collaboration with
Ministry of Foreign Affairs and International Cooperation
Under the patronage of
Representation in Italy of the European Commission
Presidency of the Council of Ministers
Chamber of Deputies
Ministry of Cultural Heritage and Activities and Tourism
Ministry of Foreign Affairs and International Cooperation
Conference of Regions and Autonomous Provinces
UPI – Union of Italian Provinces
ANCI – National Association of Italian Municipalities
ICOM Italia
