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

Free participation, upon registration

Full recording of the study day in Italian.

On Friday, March 27, 2026, from 9:30 AM (CET, UTC +1), Contemporary Synchronies: The dialogue between past and present in today’s museums took 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, focused 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 addressed 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, raised 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.

The Study Day was opened by Marta Ragozzino, Head of Service II – Contemporary Art and Photography of the Directorate-General for Contemporary Creativity of the Ministry of Culture, and Lorenzo Balbi, President AMACI and will unfold in three in-depth sessions – Contemporary Art and Archaeological Heritage. Curatorial Practices and Postcolonial Perspectives; Dialogues Between Ancient and Modern. Origins and Developments of Current Museographic Trends; Preserving Time. Anthropologies of Memory – featuring Matteo Al Kalak, full Professor at the University of Modena and Reggio Emilia; Francesca Cappelletti, Director of the Galleria Borghese; Christine Macel, Heritage Curator at the French Ministry of Culture; Matteo Meschiari, associate Professor at the University of Palermo; Elina Kountouri, Director of NEON | Organization for Culture and Development D. Daskalopoulos; and Andrea Viliani, Curator and Coordinator of the DHGP – Digital Heritage Gateway Platform.

PROGRAM

Institutional Greetings

Lorenzo Balbi, President AMACI

Marta Ragozzino, Head of Service II – Contemporary Art and Photography of the Directorate-General for Contemporary Creativity of the Ministry of Culture

Session 1 - Contemporary Art and Archaeological Heritage. Curatorial Practices and Postcolonial Perspectives

Elina Kountouri, The Allspice Case | Michael Rakowitz & Ancient Cultures

Andrea Viliani, From Archaeological Matter to the Postcolonial Museum

Moderator: Marcella Beccaria, Deputy Director, Chief Curator and Curator of Castello di Rivoli Museo d’Arte Contemporanea, and Vice President of AMACI;

Session 2 - Dialogues Between Ancient and Modern. Origins and Developments of Current Museographic Trends

Christine Macel, The Transformation of Western Museums in Light of Non-Western Practices with the Emergence of Plural Modernities in Collections and Exhibitions

Francesca Cappelletti, The Unexpected Guest in the Museum of Ancient Art

Moderator: Chiara Gatti, Director of MAN in Nuoro and of the Museo Nivola, and member of the AMACI Board of Directors;

Session 3 - Preserving Time. Anthropologies of Memory

Matteo Al Kalak, The Transmission of Culture from Archives to Digital

Matteo Meschiari, The Magnificent Attraction of Time Travel

Moderator: Lorenzo Respi, Director of Exhibitions and Collections at Fondazione Ago Modena Fabbriche Culturali ETS, and member of the AMACI Board of Directors.

Conclusions

Marcella Beccaria, Vice President AMACI

INFORMATION

Free participation upon mandatory registration. The event took place online on Friday, March 27, 2026, via the Zoom platform, from 9:30 AM (CET, UTC +1) untill 12.30. The Zoom link was sent exclusively to registered participants. Simultaneous translation was available for interventions in English. For more information, write to info@amaci.org or visit www.amaci.org.