press release

miart 2018
13 - 15 April 2018
fieramilanocity, pavilion 3, gate 5
Milan

miart 2018 - AFTER THE COMMERCIAL, PUBLIC AND CRITICAL SUCCESS OF THE LAST EDITION MIART CONFIRMS ITS FORMULA AND ANNOUNCES A NEW TEAM OF INTERNATIONAL CURATORS.

The 23rd edition of miart, the International Fair of Modern and Contemporary Art in Milan, expands the strategy developed by Fiera Milano that has made it a reference art fair where quality and discovery coexist.

The next edition will take place in the pavilions of Fieramilanocity from 13 to 15 April 2018, with VIP preview on Thursday 12 April and will again see miart at the centre of a week dedicated entirely to art. This art week will involve Milan's public and private institutions, its galleries and its non-profit spaces, organisations that make Milan an international capital of creativity.

In its second year under the artistic direction of Alessandro Rabottini, miart 2018 has announced a new team of curators, new members of the Selection Committee and a project that confirms the mix of contemporary, modern and limited edition art that is unique in Italy. Like every year, miart will be the catalyst of Milan Art Week, an intense programme of events and openings organised in partnership with Milan City Council and which brings together Pirelli HangarBicocca, Prada Foundation, Triennale, the Nicola Trussardi Foundation, the Royal Palace of Milan, Museo del Novecento ("Museum of the 20th Century"), FAI Italian Environment Fund, PAC - Contemporary Art Pavilion, GAM - Galleria d'Arte Modern, the FM Centre for Contemporary Art, the Furla Foundation and the Carriero Foundation, among others.

In the words of Alessandro Rabottini: "I am proud to present the international team of curators that is already working on miart 2018, a group of professionals who will bring to Milan that plurality of voices and points of view that characterises the project supported by Fiera Milano. The 2018 edition strengthens the identity we have pursued over recent years, that is, the idea that the past, the present and the future of art are dimensions of creativity in a continuous and reciprocal relationship. miart attracts as vast a range of audience types as it has main areas of interest: historical art, contemporary art, emerging art and design research. And it is the breadth of views that we want to provide for our audience on the occasion of miart 2018"

“miart is a fair that combines modern and contemporary art and design, articulating an intense dialogue between the post-war masters and emerging talents– declares Lorenzo Caprio President of Fiera Milano - with its main sections - Established Contemporary, Established Masters and Emergent - miart is the Italian fair that presents the public with the broadest chronological offering from the art of the beginning of the last century to the works of recent generations through a range carefully selected from galleries operating in both primary and secondary markets”

Along with a careful selection of prestigious international art galleries, miart places particular emphasis on historic artists in its Masters and Decades sections. Both sections, curated for the second year by Alberto Salvadori, focus on the presentation of seminal works by post-war masters alongside the rediscovery of artists that the market is now bringing to the attention of collectors. At a time of huge interest in post-war Italian art, miart is a unique event for the historical market, both for the quality of the artworks and for the rigour of its exhibition projects.

The cornerstone of miart is the dialogue between artists from different generations through Generations, a special section by invitation, which this year is curated by two of the most respected international curators: Lorenzo Benedetti (Curator of Contemporary Art at the Kunstmuseum St. Gallen) and Jens Hoffmann (Director of Exhibitions and Public Programs at the Jewish Museum in New York).

Attilia Fattori Franchini, an independent curator based in London, will coordinate the 20 international galleries that each year comprise the Emergent section, presenting a fresh and dynamic selection of the latest experiments of emerging artists represented by galleries with less than five years of activity.

On Demand is a cross-section that focusses on "contextual" art: site-specific works such as installations and wall paintings, projects in progress, commissions, performances...: works in which the public and the collector play a decisive role in their activation and fruition. On Demand is curated by Oda Albera who is responsible for Exhibitors Liaison and Special Projects.

Object focusses on limited edition contemporary design items and important pieces that shaped the history of furnishing and decorative arts in the 20th century. This section features a carefully selected number of international design galleries specialising in modern and contemporary art, this year curated by design critic and journalist Hugo Macdonald, formerly Design Editor of Wallpaper and Monocle magazines.

An ambitious programme of conversations and panel discussions every year brings to Milan over 40 directors of museums, curators, artists and collectors from around the world. For the third consecutive year, this rich series of talks will take place in partnership with In Between Art Film, the art film and experimental works production house founded by Beatrice Bulgari. The curators of miartalks 2018 are João Ribas (Deputy Director and Senior Curator at the Serralves Museum of Contemporary Art in Porto) and Fatos Üstek, an independent curator based in London.

miart 2018 again offers its numerous prizes and special acquisitions fund, whose international juries each year presents awards to the galleries and works presented at the fair:

"Giampiero Cantoni" Fondanzione Fiera Milano Acquisition Fund
Herno Prize, awarded to the stand with the best design and layout
Fidenza Village Prize, for the best dialogue within the Generations section
On Demand Prize, awarded to the most experimental work of the On Demand section
Emergent Prize, for the best young gallery in the Emergent section
CEDIT Prize, for the most interesting work presented in the Object section
Rotary Club Milano Brera Prize for Contemporary Art and Young Artists