Arte Fiera 2015 confirms the upward trend that began in 2013, and resolutely reclaims its role as the main and most comprehensive Italian modern and contemporary art show: the only one organized in official partnership with the Italian Association of Modern and Contemporary Art Galleries.
The number of exhibiting galleries rises again this year: from 126 in 2013, and 172 in 2014, to 185 galleries registered two months before the start of the 2015 show – an increase of 8% in relation to 2014 and 47% over the last two years; 210 exhibitors in total, presenting over 2000 works by more than 1000 artists, from great masters to promising newcomers. BolognaFiere opens the doors of the 39th edition of the International Exhibition of Modern and Contemporary Art to the general public from 23 to 26 January 2015.

Arte Fiera’s decision to showcase the best Italian art of the last century is confirmed in this edition’s Main Section, in which over 40 galleries will exhibit more than 200 works by contemporary Italian artists, who have achieved stunning results this year on the international markets.
Alongside the longstanding stars - Lucio Fontana, Piero Manzoni, Enrico Castellani, Alighiero Boetti, Michelangelo Pistoletto, praised by Paris’ Louvre and already well-known abroad – the most famous international museums and most prestigious private galleries have begun to follow Alberto Burri, who is soon to have a large retrospective exhibition at New York’s Guggenheim Museum, and Dadamaino, Gianni Colombo, Pier Paolo Calzolari, as well as others, while Agostino Bonalumi, Paolo Scheggi, Turi Simeti have been the subject of new international interest in the last few months, achieving record sales at Sotheby’s.

For the president of BolognaFiere, Duccio Campagnoli “The results confirm the success of the format we have invested in for Arte Fiera: a curatorial show, with an artistic directorship aimed at valorizing above all Italian art, Italian modern and contemporary art galleries and the role of collecting. We have made this investment with our resources and it would be useful – he continues – if there were a national policy that focused in the same way on valorizing the great expressions of the most recent Italian art and on the legacy they have created and continue to create, for a new generation of young Italian artists who can hold their own on the international scene”.

This trend was already foreseen by the previous editions of the show: “We have given our commitment – underlines Claudio Spadoni, artistic director of the section of the show dedicated to modern art - to create, at Arte Fiera, no longer a simple exhibition, but an event and a project proposal for the market and collectors, which identifies topics and attracts attention and new interest; we have seen that Art Fiera can again play an international role, looking specifically towards emerging elements and markets”.

Artistic director Giorgio Verzotti, in charge of the contemporary section of the show, agrees with the curatorial approach of the show and claims: "We have made a distinctive feature of Arte Fiera the close relationship with Italian collectors, who for the second year have loaned their works for an original exhibition, this time dedicated to the art of the Middle East. In fact Arte Fiera will mark the birth of the first Association of Italian Collectors, which will open the Conversations – the programme of meetings organized by Arte Fiera especially to keep Collectors up to date – and will be introduced by the President of the newly founded Association of Italian Contemporary Arts Foundations, Patrizia Sandretto Re Rebaudengo.”

An exhibition comprising works loaned by over 60 collectors, entitled "Too early, too late", will be curated by Marco Scotini, who is also in charge of the “Focus Est” section of the show, and hosted at Bologna’s Pinacoteca Nazionale. This exhibition will remain open until 12 April 2015.

Arte Fiera 2015 also pays special attention to the relationship between galleries and collectors, dedicating a new area to “Protagonists”, i.e. the galleries that have played a key role in the development of Italian art. This year the protagonists will be selected and proposed by a collector, Lorenzo Paini, and a curator, Marco Scotini.

The curatorial approach will be completed by the programme of Arte Fiera Conversations, coordinated by the Art Economy journalist Riccarda Mandrini who will present nine meetings of great international importance dedicated to the issues of the market and public and private investment in art, focusing in particular on the experiences of emerging markets of Asia and the Middle East. Amongst others, the talks will see the participation of Patrizia Sandretto Re Rebaudengo (Fondazione Sandretto Re Rebaudengo), Ramin Salsali (Salsali Museum, Dubai), Arsalan Mohammad (Harper’s Bazaar Art Arabia), Renate Wiehager (Daimler corporate collection), Urs Stahel (MAST, Bologna), Lea Mattarella, Todd Levin (Levin Art Group), Hou Hanru (MAXXI, Rome), and Vasif Kartun (SALT, Istanbul).

The 5 sections of Arte Fiera 2015
The heart of the exhibition will be the Main section, with 127 modern and contemporary art galleries.

This year the “Focus Est” section, curated by Marco Scotini, will focus on the artistic production of Mediterranean and Middle Eastern cultures.

Following its debut in 2014, this year will see the return of the “Fotografia” section with 24 galleries – an increase of 20% - realized in collaboration with MIA Fair and curated by Fabio Castelli. This area confirms a global trend that has seen a significant increase in interest in photography as one of the languages of contemporary art.