A contemporary art festival lands in Milan shortly before the exhausting and exciting Design Week 2018
Text by: Charlotte Garlaschelli

A hub of cultural activities will bloom at Fiera Milano with the renowned MIART, directed by Alessandro Rabottini. This year the participants will amount to 184 galleries, half of them international, and will include New York’s Gagosian, London’s Amanda Wilkinson and Zurich’s Peter Kilchmann. MIART’s numerous sections were curated by eminent figures from the world of modern and contemporary art. The Object section, which is dedicated to decorative arts and collectible historical pieces, includes Dimoregallery with works by Tomaso Buzzi and Atelier Seguso, but also Officine Saffi with wearable art pieces created by Jannis Kounellis and Rebecca Horn; On Demand includes the excellent presence of Raffaella Cortese and the wonderful selections by Prometeogallery, which features an interesting installation by Hiwa K.

Carsten Höller is offered by Massimo De Carlo in the Established Contemporary section. The Decades section was curated by Alberto Salvadori, director of OAC Fondazione Cr in Florence: with a selection of 9 galleries, the section features an interesting study of the decades that made up the Twentieth century with a particular focus on the people who passed away in the 1990’s, represented by Jo Spence’s work from the Richard Saltoun. Jonas Mekas will be the artist of reference for the 1980’s. A melancholic plunge is what Enrico Prampolini offers with his work selected by gallery Gian Enzo Sperone to represent the 1940’s.

Milan continues to express its love for art and collaboration with local galleries, which present a rich schedule of events. We are glad to share some of them with you:
Ex Gratia, the 5th event of the project “In Pratica”, a series of exhibitions supported by the studio of Adv. Giuseppe Iannaccone will also include part of his personal art collection and the works of ten emerging artists from the Albanian contemporary art scene. This ambitious project was carried out under the patronage of the Albanian Ministry of Culture, whereas the exhibition volume was published by Mousse Publishing.
A small but quickly expanding gallery MEGA will propose BillyClub: an exhibition by Zarpruder Filmmakersgroup focused on myth and the Herculean labours, as well as Nicola Martini and Jacopo Menzani in a different location: The Lift – Via Marco Aurelio 64, Milano. Their collaboration focuses on a speculative investigation of the material through the use of photographs.
American artist Rachel Hayes made colourful installations for Missoni, with an exhibition entitled Blowing In The Wind, curated by eccentric Mariuccia Casadio. You can visit it in the showroom located on via Solferino 9 starting from April 22.

Prometeogallery features two artists in addition to its presence at MIART Fiera: Mary Zygouri with “La Répétition de l’Impossible” and the conceptual art of Chinese-born  Mao Tongqiang “Private Archive”. A further research of what has been defined as the Historiagraphic Turn, but not only. This artistic project explores the disorientation that followed the quick Chinese evolution from an agricultural economy to a modern one, based on goods and services, while trying to preserve its own political identity.

The Szechwan Tale China, Theatre and History, curated by Marco Scotini, director of FM Centro per L’Arte Contemporanea, where the exhibition is held. A meta-theatre with thirty international artists exploring the history of East vs West relationship, as if it was a theatrical performance, analysing social and historical aspects in public and hidden contexts.

For those wishing to take a trip out of town, we suggest Cascina Maria, by Nicoletta Rusconi, that will open the doors of the studio Francesco Arena, its resident guest, and the next collaboration with Galleria Raffaella Cortese, which, among other places, has worked with GAM on a performance by Marcello Maloberti, “Vir Temporis Acti”.

Cosplayers - A Mirage by Cao Fei, 2004, Inkjet print, 75 x 100 cm