AMACI – ASSOCIATION OF ITALIAN CONTEMPORARY ART MUSEUMS

NEW EXECUTIVE BOARD APPOINTED

President: Lorenzo Balbi

Vice President: Marcella Beccaria

Board Members: Elisabetta Barisoni, Chiara Gatti, Cristiana Perrella,

Lorenzo Respi and Emma Zanella

Chiara Gatti, Director of the MAN Museum in Nuoro; Cristiana Perrella, Director of MACRO – Museum of Contemporary Art in Rome; and Lorenzo Respi, Director of Exhibitions and Collections at the AGO Modena Fabbriche Culturali Foundation (ETS), have been appointed as the three new members of the Executive Board of AMACI. The Assembly of Members, which met on 23 June 2025, also confirmed the appointments of Elisabetta Barisoni, Head of the Museum Area / Ca’ Pesaro – International Gallery of Modern Art and Fortuny Museum, and Manager of MUVE in Mestre, and Emma Zanella, General Director of the Fondazione Galleria d’Arte Moderna e Contemporanea – MA*GA Museum, as Board Members. Furthermore, Marcella Beccaria, Deputy Director, Chief Curator and Curator of the Collections at the Castello di Rivoli Museum of Contemporary Art, Rivoli, was reappointed as Vice President, while Lorenzo Balbi, Director of MAMbo – Museum of Modern Art in Bologna, was confirmed for a second term as President.

On behalf of the entire Assembly, President Lorenzo Balbi expressed his gratitude to the outgoing Board Member, Caterina Riva, Artistic Director of MACTE – Museum of Contemporary Art in Termoli, for her dedication throughout her mandate. He acknowledged her constant commitment to envisioning museums as integral parts of society and the contemporary world, reflecting and interpreting its transformations.

"Supporting museum policies related to the contemporary, fostering an institutional culture of contemporary art, and promoting public artistic heritage by encouraging the study and dissemination of contemporary visual languages both in Italy and abroad," stated President Balbi, "remain the cornerstones of the direction we intend to pursue over the next three years. With careful attention to current challenges, our commitment is to re-establish Italian museums at the heart of both social and international discourse – as inclusive, participatory and sustainable spaces, capable of fostering critical awareness, promoting cultural diversity, and actively contributing to the development of good practices that benefit both local and global communities.”

During the 2022–2025 triennium, AMACI has pursued not only its statutory goals but also new, tangible objectives focused on research and critical reflection on the museum as an institution – in terms of identity, role, strategies, and operations – within a rapidly evolving and complex contemporary context. In this period, AMACI also welcomed two new member institutions: the Luigi Spazzapan Regional Gallery of Contemporary Art in Gradisca d’Isonzo and the MAC – Museum of Contemporary Art in Lissone.

Today, the Association is increasingly focused on producing content that is valuable not only to institutions but to the broader contemporary art community. This is demonstrated by a series of free, online study days organised over the past three years with the ongoing support of the Directorate-General for Contemporary Creativity of the Italian Ministry of Culture. These events addressed topical and significant issues for Italian contemporary art museums, offering high-level opportunities for dialogue and professional development involving experts, scholars, artists, sector professionals, students and curious audiences alike. Highlights include: Studying at the Museum / Studying the Museum (2025), curated by Elisabetta Barisoni and Emma Zanella; The Time of the Museum. The Contemporary Art Museum as a Guardian of Complexity (2024), curated by the AMACI Executive Board; Contemporary Art Museums and Sustainable Development: A Necessary Practice (2023), curated by Marcella Beccaria and led by Henry McGhie; and Seize the Day / Carpe Diem / Cogli l’attimo (2022), curated by Marcella Beccaria. Notable also is the “Museo Ventuno” platform, which reached its second edition in 2023 with the conference and related publication Museums at the Ecological Turn | I Musei alla Svolta Ecologica, curated by AMACI and NERO Editions, and presented in 2025 at key national and international venues such as Artissima in Milan and Miss Read in Berlin, with the participation of the volume’s contributing authors.

Over the past three years, AMACI has continued its work in promoting contemporary art through initiatives such as the Giornata del Contemporaneo, a flagship annual event that officially opens the artistic season in Italy. The 2024 edition marked its twentieth anniversary with a major project in collaboration with Treccani Arte: Treccani Arte x AMACI, which brought together twelve artists who had previously designed the event’s visual identity to create a limited edition series of fine art prints.

Further initiatives include the revision of the AMACI Guidelines – the reference handbook for contemporary art museums – aimed at recognising the artist as a professional figure, and the enhancement and dissemination of the public contemporary art heritage of AMACI museums via the expansion of the RAAM Archive (archivioraam.org). This evolving online archive now holds over 12,000 works and 4,200 artists, providing sector professionals, scholars, museum visitors and general users with insight into the scope, distribution and quality of Italy’s public contemporary art holdings.

In the same period, AMACI also launched a new website and began a visual identity rebranding. These initiatives were made possible thanks to key technical sponsorships, including Artshell – the promoter of the first Italian-made software for managing and enhancing art collections – which supported the 17th Giornata del Contemporaneo by offering a new platform and event mapping tool for AMACI member museums, as well as M&C SAATCHI. Additionally, the valuable sponsorships of Alfasigma and Studio Ardizzone contributed to improving the Association’s internal sustainability.

LORENZO BALBI, President

Director, MAMbo – Museum of Modern Art of Bologna

An art critic and curator, Lorenzo Balbi has served as Director of MAMbo – Museum of Modern Art of Bologna since 2017 and as President of AMACI – Association of Italian Contemporary Art Museums since 2022. He spent over ten years at the Fondazione Sandretto Re Rebaudengo in Turin, where he taught at CAMPO – Course for Curators, curated the Residency for Young Foreign Curators, and organised numerous exhibitions across the Foundation’s venues.

He teaches Art Systems at DAMS, University of Bologna, and Contemporary Art and Visual Culture at Bologna Business School. He also regularly lectures at the Academy of Fine Arts in Bologna, IED in Florence and Turin, and other higher education institutions.

He serves on the Scientific Committee of the National Picture Gallery of Bologna and the Farnesina Collection; is a Board Member of the Lucio Saffaro Foundation; sits on the advisory boards of the Fondazione Scuola dei Beni e delle Attività Culturali and Luiss Business School; and is President of the Public Art Commission of the Municipality of Bologna. In 2024, he became a full member of the Accademia Clementina and curated the 60th edition of the October Salon / Belgrade Biennale.

MARCELLA BECCARIA, Vice President

Deputy Director, Chief Curator and Curator of Collections, Castello di Rivoli Museum of Contemporary Art, Rivoli

An art historian, curator and author, Marcella Beccaria has been Deputy Director of the Castello di Rivoli Museum of Contemporary Art since 2023, also serving as Head of CRRI – the Museum's Research Centre. Since 2012, she has held the role of Chief Curator and Curator of Collections. She teaches at NABA – Nuova Accademia di Belle Arti, Milan.

A graduate in Art Criticism History from the University of Turin, she completed a postgraduate specialisation in Art History and Museum Studies at Boston University’s Graduate School of Arts and Science. She began her curatorial career in the United States at the Museum of Fine Arts and The Institute of Contemporary Art, Boston.

At Castello di Rivoli, she has contributed to the development of the collection and curated numerous exhibitions and accompanying catalogues. She has also curated shows at leading national and international institutions including The ICA (London), Fundació Joan Miró (Barcelona), Museum of Art (Santa Barbara), OGR (Turin), Gallerie d’Italia (Milan), The Centre for the Less Good Idea (Johannesburg), and ExpoChicago (Chicago).

She has authored texts for major catalogues published by institutions such as Bourse de Commerce – Pinault Collection (Paris), the Venice Biennale, the Guggenheim Museum (New York), Museu Serralves (Porto), Stedelijk Museum (Ghent), Istanbul Biennial, Kunstmuseum Winterthur, FRAC Champagne-Ardenne (Reims), SAM – Singapore Art Museum, Centre Pompidou (Metz), and Kunstmuseum Wolfsburg. She has served as AMACI’s Vice President since 2020.

ELISABETTA BARISONI

Head of Museum Area / Ca’ Pesaro – International Gallery of Modern Art and Fortuny Museum, Venice and Managing Director, MUVE Mestre

From 2003 to 2015, Elisabetta Barisoni was curator of temporary exhibitions at MART – Museum of Modern and Contemporary Art of Trento and Rovereto. She earned a postgraduate diploma in Contemporary Art from the University of Bologna in 2006, and a PhD in Cultural Heritage and Territory from the University of Verona in 2015. She has curated numerous exhibitions and publications on 20th-century art.

A member of the AMACI Executive Board since 2018, she joined the Scientific Committee of the Gypsotheca Antonio Canova Museum in Possagno in 2024.

Since 2015, she has worked for the Fondazione Musei Civici di Venezia as Director of Ca’ Pesaro – International Gallery of Modern Art, and currently holds the roles of Head of Museum Area and Managing Director of MUVE Mestre.

CHIARA GATTI

Director, MAN Museum of Art of Nuoro

Chiara Gatti is an art historian and critic. She contributes to La Repubblica, including its cultural supplements Il Venerdì and Robinson. She is Director of the MAN Museum of Art in Nuoro, and serves on the Scientific Committee of both the MUDEC Museum in Milan and the Villa dei Cedri Museum in Bellinzona (CH).

She has curated exhibitions for both public and private institutions, including Baj, Baj Chez Baj; Giotto and Fontana. The Golden Space; Emilio Isgrò. Syllogism of the Horse; Matisse. Metamorphoses; Giacometti and Fontana: The Pursuit of the Absolute; Guernica. Against All Wars; Regina. Of Sculpture.

She is co-author with Emilio Isgrò of Io non cancello. La mia vita fraintesa (Solferino, 2024) and with Lea Vergine of L’arte non è faccenda di persone perbene (Rizzoli, 2016).

She edited three volumes on Leone Lodi’s work (Officina Libraria, 2015–2017), and selected the writings of Giorgio Mascherpa in L’emozione e l’incanto dell’arte. Da Lotto a Fontana (Ceribelli, 2019). For Interlinea, she published Insolite natività (2012), Chagall. Sogno di una notte di Natale (2018), Nevicate d’arte (2021), Sotto una buona stella (2022), and Una storia dorata (2023).

CRISTIANA PERRELLA

Director, MACRO – Museum of Contemporary Art of Rome

Curator of the 2025 Conciliazione 5 contemporary art programme for the Dicastery for Culture and Education of the Vatican, and Artistic Director of the Milano Design Film Festival, Cristiana Perrella is a curator and art critic. She directed the Centro per l’Arte Contemporanea Luigi Pecci in Prato from 2018 to 2021, and previously led the Contemporary Arts Programme at the British School at Rome (1998–2008).

She founded and curated SACS – Contemporary Art Helpdesk of Sicily for RISO – Museum of Contemporary Art of Sicily, Palermo (2007–2009), and curated the art and science programme for the Marino Golinelli Foundation in Bologna (2009–2018).

As an independent curator, she has collaborated with numerous Italian and international institutions, including MAXXI (Rome), IKSV (Istanbul), and Fondazione Prada (Milan).

She teaches Management and Economics of the Arts and Cultural Institutions in the MA programme in Theory and History of the Arts and Image at San Raffaele University, Milan.

LORENZO RESPI

Director of Exhibitions and Collections, AGO Modena Fabbriche Culturali Foundation (ETS)

Lorenzo Respi was a member of the Scientific Committee of the Arnaldo Pomodoro Foundation in Milan (2018–2024), where he previously served as Curator and Conservator (2004–2012).

He has taught Cultural Heritage Law Institutions in the Bachelor’s Degree Programme in Science and Technology for the Study and Conservation of Cultural Heritage and Information Media at the University of Milan.

His professional focus includes museology, exhibition design, and the management, protection and enhancement of cultural heritage.