Arte Forte Award: Contemporary Art Meets Memory at the Ugo Guidi Museum in Forte dei Marmi; from September 6 to 17, 2026, the House Museum opens its doors to new voices in art.
Sunday, September 13 marks the official award ceremony, in collaboration with the Astrolabio Gallery in Rome, bringing together contemporary artistic expressions, memory, and the local landscape.
There are places where exhibiting a work of art means more than simply hanging it on a wall. Places where the past continues to engage with the present, and where memory—rather than becoming something static—becomes fertile ground for new artistic experiences.
It is within this context that the “Premio Arte Forte” takes place, hosted by the Ugo Guidi Museum in Forte dei Marmi from September 6 to 17, 2026, as part of the 218th exhibition organized by the Museum and the Friends of the Ugo Guidi Museum, in collaboration with the Astrolabio Gallery in Rome.
The House Museum still maintains a particularly intimate relationship with art today: it was, in fact, the place where the sculptor Ugo Guidi (1912–1977) worked and forged relationships with numerous leading figures in 20th-century artistic culture. It is, therefore, a space where the museum dimension continues to coexist with the domestic and creative dimensions, keeping alive the memory of an important cultural era for Forte dei Marmi and Versilia.
And it is perhaps precisely this unique identity that makes the encounter with contemporary artists so compelling: works that differ in their artistic approach, sensibility, and language enter a space already steeped in history, creating a dialogue that goes beyond the exhibition itself.
On display will be works presented by the Astrolabio Gallery by ANTONELLA LAGANA’, MAURIZIO MASTROMATTEO, CLAUDIO PALANDRANI, BL – DANIELA MERCURI, MARCO HOST, MARCANTONIO BIBBIANI, ENZO FASOLI, MASSIMO ALFONSO FERRARI, MINORI SHIMIZU, NICO SGADO’, PIETRA BARRASSO, and DANIELA STRUNA.
The main event is scheduled for Sunday, September 13, when the official opening will take place and certificates will be awarded to the winning artists. The day will then continue at the Logos Hotel, where visitors can view other works by the same artists and enjoy a convivial gathering.
This gives rise to a sort of widespread journey, capable of taking art beyond the confines of the museum and bringing it into another part of daily life in Forte dei Marmi.
But the significance of an art award lies not only in the recognition bestowed upon the artists. Above all, it lies in the opportunity to create opportunities for encounter: between artists and the public, between different creative experiences, and between a memory already firmly established and that which is still seeking its own form.
And it is precisely in this continuity that the Ugo Guidi Museum preserves one of its most interesting characteristics. It is not merely a place dedicated to a 20th-century artist, but a space still animated by contemporary exhibitions and initiatives, capable of maintaining an ongoing dialogue with its own time. The Museum is also aligned with Empatismo, a contemporary literary, artistic, philosophical, and cultural movement.
In a region like Versilia, where art has left a profound mark and continues to coexist with studios, galleries, museums, and cultural venues, the Arte Forte Award thus reaffirms a simple yet essential principle: a work of art lives not only in the eyes of the artist who created it, but in the relationship it fosters with those who encounter it.
And perhaps this is precisely art’s most authentic purpose: to transcend time, to forge connections, and to continue to spark a question, an emotion, or a new perspective.
Information
The exhibition is open until September 17, 2026 at the Ugo Guidi Museum, Via Matteo Civitali 33, Forte dei Marmi, by appointment at 348 3020538 or via museougoguidi@gmail.com.
The works on display at the Logos Hotel, at Via Mazzini 235, are open to the public free of charge.
