CONTEMPORARY SYNCHRONIES
THE DIALOGUE BETWEEN PAST AND PRESENT IN TODAY'S MUSEUMS
Sixth Online Study Day promoted by AMACI with the support of the
Directorate-General for Contemporary Creativity of the Ministry of Culture
Curated by Marcella Beccaria, Chiara Gatti, and Lorenzo Respi
Friday, March 27, 2026, online from 9:30 AM (CET, UTC+1)
Free participation, upon registration
On Friday, March 27, 2026, from 9:30 AM (CET, UTC +1), Contemporary Synchronies: The dialogue between past and present in today’s museums will take place as the sixth edition of the AMACI Study Day. This annual event, promoted by AMACI – Association of Italian Contemporary Art Museums, with the support of the Directorate-General for Contemporary Creativity of the Ministry of Culture, focuses on analyzing the profound changes that are redefining the role and identity of museums today.
Curated by Marcella Beccaria, Chiara Gatti, and Lorenzo Respi, the 2026 Study Day addresses one of the most relevant themes in contemporary museological debate: moving beyond rigid chronologies and disciplinary boundaries in favor of a synchronic, layered, and relational approach to collections and cultural heritage.
In recent decades, contemporary art museums and cultural institutions more broadly have undergone profound transformations affecting their mission, curatorial practices, exhibition strategies, and relational approaches. One of the most emblematic aspects of this change is the increasing openness to dialogue between artistic languages from different historical periods, particularly archaeology, ancient, modern, and contemporary art.
These phenomena of temporal contamination—what we might call “contemporary synchronies”—are redefining the ways in which artworks are displayed, interpreted, and presented to the public. Traditional boundaries between institutions and museums devoted to archaeology, ancient, modern, or contemporary art have become porous: contemporary artists increasingly intervene in historical contexts, activating new readings of heritage. Simultaneously, works from the past are reinterpreted in contemporary terms through innovative juxtapositions or site-specific projects.
Numerous examples of new museum and curatorial pathways have been constructed around narrative threads designed to guide visitors, challenging traditional display conventions and proposing unprecedented dialogues, in which collections emerge both materially and conceptually from their cases, becoming vibrant protagonists orchestrating resonances and counterpoints. The thematic breadth spans postcolonial issues, restitution debates, and questions of identity and gender.
The transcendence of temporal boundaries, which historically defined museum activities and confined them to archaeology, ancient, modern, or contemporary dimensions, raises profound questions concerning institutional identity. Today, museums are no longer merely “places of preservation” but have become spaces for hermeneutic debate, content transmission, participation, and knowledge sharing, also through the conscious use of digital tools as instruments of cultural mediation, scientific research, and knowledge dissemination.
INFORMATION
Free participation upon mandatory registration at the following link. The detailed program and the schedule of speakers will be made available shortly. The event will take place online on Friday, March 27, 2026, via the Zoom platform, from 9:30 AM (CET, UTC +1). The Zoom link will be sent exclusively to registered participants. Simultaneous translation will be available for interventions in English. For more information, write to info@amaci.org or visit www.amaci.org.
