Miart is getting a fresh start for its 26th edition. 

Themed around the idea of a “primo movimento”, the 2022 edition of Miart hopes to offer a spirit of new beginnings, akin to the opening notes of a symphony. “The term, borrowed from classical music but endlessly suggestive, not only represents the industry’s desire to pick up the pace and take a leap forward but is also a reference to the art history and the succession of movements over time that intertwine and influence one another,” the fair said in a statement. 

Once again under the direction of Nicola Ricciardi, this year’s edition opens to the public on April 1, with 151 modern and contemporary galleries exhibiting from 20 different countries. 

Courtesy of Miart.

With this aim of starting over, the fair has reorganized its format to feature just three sections: Established, Decades, and Emergent. Established is the fair’s main section, showing leading contemporary and Modern art, along with design objects. Curated by Alberto Salvadori, Decades will explore art history over the past century through monographic projects spanning from the 1910s to the 2010s. Lastly, Emergent, curated by Attilia Fattori Franchini, focuses on the next generation of gallery owners and artists.

The idea of movement also underscores a series of initiatives and collaborations launched by Miart with cultural institutions from around the world. Highlights including the project OutPut, curated by Davide Giannella, which will focus on performance in public spaces, featuring Riccardo Benassi, a visual artist based in Berlin, and Michele Rizzo, an Italian choreographer based in Amsterdam. The Triennale Milano will be staging a performing arts festival including a presentation of Dying On Stage by Cypriot artist Christodoulos Panayiotou, as well as Milano, a new work by Romeo Castellucci, filmed by Yuri Ancarani. 

Artists participating in the Venice Biennale, including Carla Accardi, Tomaso Binga, Miriam Cahn, Giulia Cenci, Gabriel Chaile, Louise Nevelson, Joanna Piotrowska, and Grazia Varisco, will also be strongly represented at the fair. 

Charles Avery, Untitled (Boogie-Woogie) (2012). Courtesy of Vistamare.

Milano Art Week is also back during the fair, celebrating the city’s main public institutions and private foundations. Exhibitions opening in tandem with the fair include “Elmgreen & Dragset: Useless Bodies?” at Fondazione Prada; “Artur Zmijewski: Quando La Paura Mangia L’anima” at Padiglione d’Arte Contemporanea; “Yuli Yamagata” at Ordet; and “Steve McQueen: Sunshine State” at Pirelli HangarBicocca. 

Lastly, to highlight the fair’s deep ties to the city of Milan, this year’s fair will feature a photography installation by Giovanna Silva. Conceived as a natural continuation of City, I listen to your heart, an intervention created by Silva at the Triennale Milano in 2021, the new projection features a selection of about 500 photographs of the city, from its most iconic buildings to its hidden corners.

Miart 2022 takes place April 1–3, 2022.