GEOGRAPHIES OF THE CONTEMPORARY
22nd edition of the DAY OF CONTEMPORARY ART
at the CASTROMEDIANO with BIRDS OF PASSAGE
Saturday, October 10, 2026 marks the return of the Day of Contemporary Art, the annual event promoted by AMACI – the Association of Italian Museums of Contemporary Art, with the support of the Directorate-General for Contemporary Creativity under the Department for Cultural Activities of the Ministry of Culture, and in collaboration with the Directorate-General for Growth and Export Promotion of the Ministry of Foreign Affairs and International Cooperation.
Now in its twenty-second edition, the event renews its commitment to showcasing the vitality of Italian contemporary art through a widespread program involving the entire national territory. It represents one of the most important opportunities for encounter between institutions, industry professionals, the artistic community, and the public, reflecting the richness and plurality of a cultural system capable of speaking different languages and inhabiting diverse places, all united by the desire to promote the knowledge of contemporary art and make it accessible to everyone.
The theme chosen for the 2026 edition is “Geographies of the Contemporary,” a reflection on the present as a space shaped by continuous transformations, in which territories, communities, and identities are not immutable realities, but are defined through relationships, conflicts, exchanges, and processes of constant redefinition. It is an invitation to read the contemporary world as a geography in motion, where art can offer tools for critical interpretation and fresh perspectives.
The CASTROMEDIANO MUSEUM, recognized as a site of contemporary culture, celebrates the Day of Contemporary Art with the opening of “Birds of Passage,” a travelling exhibition project by artist Laura Dzelzyt and photographer Søren Solkær. Curated by Raffaela Zizzari, the exhibition takes the Salento region—a land reaching out into the Mediterranean, historically marked by stories of migration, arrivals, and unique ecologies—as a theoretical, perceptual, and poetic platform of universal resonance.
The project’s title echoes a historical and sociological term used in the English-speaking world between the late 19th and 20th centuries to define Italian migrants: “birds of passage.”
Today, Birds of Passage—in alignment with AMACI’s theme “Geographies of the Contemporary”—brings this historical memory into the present, weaving it together with contemporary movements of people, cultures, art forms, and animal species across Europe. The project offers a reflection on art as a form of “restanza” (the conscious and dynamic act of tying oneself to a place, taking care of it, inhabiting it poetically, and participating in its continuous cultural renewal).
The exhibition will open at 11:00 AM on Saturday, October 10.
The exhibition will be on view until November 5, 2026
