City Open Museum was created with a specific goal in mind: to bring art out of museums and into people’s everyday lives, in the places they live and pass through.
“We want to create an open, contemporary, and truly participatory museum,” comments Cinzia Monteverdi, President of the Academy of Fine Arts in Carrara. “As an academy, we lead a network of 18 institutions, united by the desire to experiment with new languages and new ways of enjoying cultural heritage, thanks to the support of the PNRR. We believe in art that, by entering people’s living spaces, generates wonder, identity, and vision. That is why we hope for widespread participation.”
The distinctive features of the project
City Open Museum is a national program that:
- brings art into public spaces, integrating it with cities, landscapes, and communities;
- promotes contemporary artistic research, involving Italian and international artists, scholars, and students;
- interprets territory, memory, history, and social issues through visual, performative, and digital languages;
- renews the AFAM system, expanding the educational offering with new transdisciplinary modules between the arts and sciences;
- develops research paths in digital, contemporary art, and technology to train advanced skills;
- creates a digital archive and a production and documentation platform that makes the project accessible over time;
- builds a widespread artistic community, active in events, installations, workshops, performances, and moments of discussion.
“Art is a work of the spirit,” explains Angelo Capasso, Artistic Director of the project. “Each venue, artist, and researcher contributes to a single large creative organism. C.O.M. thus becomes a flexible and inclusive structure capable of generating different communities: the general public, specialist groups, observers, and future users. Thanks in part to its digital and archival component, the project restores art’s vocation to transcend boundaries and build a large contemporary COM.unity.”
Angelo Capasso, art critic, professor of History and Methodology of Art Criticism and History of Contemporary Art at the Academy of Fine Arts in Carrara, has published essays and books on contemporary art, including: “Nottefonda. Rituali del buio” (Deep Night. Rituals of Darkness), 2000; “ABO. Le arti della critica” (ABO. The Arts of Criticism), 2001; “AA. L’arte per l’arte” (Art for Art’s Sake), 2002; “Ombre e fantasmi” (Shadows and Ghosts), 2004; “Opere d’arte a parole” (Works of Art in Words), 2007; “Arte e le teorie di turno” (Art and the Theories of the Moment), 2011; “Sadiesfaction. Seduzione, Economia, Arte” (Sadiesfaction. Seduction, Economy, Art), 2011; “Naturans. The Landscape in Contemporary Art,“ 2018; ”Sortir Du Champ,“ 2021. ”What to Say. A Manual of Art Criticism,“ 2024. He has curated numerous contemporary art exhibitions. He was commissioner for contemporary art for Europalia.Italia (2003) with the exhibition ”Places of Affection. Paesaggio – Passaggio”; curator of the Farnesina Design Collection, Ministry of Foreign Affairs; editorial director of Exibart on paper and online (2011); co-artistic director and curator of the Fondazione Volume!, Rome (2007-2009); editorial director of RomArte (Rome, 1998); editor-in-chief of Cahiers d’Art International (Elemond, Milan) (1994-96). In 1998, he curated the Absolut Cattelan project, which culminated in the realization of Maurizio Cattelan’s project for the Absolut Vodka series produced by the French group Pernod Ricard and promoted by Time Magazine (Maurizio Cattelan. The mouse that roared (Time, October 26, 1998).
Main events
The calendar—constantly updated and available online—features exhibitions, installations, meetings, festivals, and educational activities throughout the region.
December 12 – Poetics of the Object
CARMI Museum – Carrara
Works by Aron Demetz, Flavio Favelli, Paolo Grassino, Nicola Samorì, Davide Rivalta, and Pietro Ruffo.
December 13 – Itineranze Appenniniche with Giovanni Lindo Ferretti
Accademia, Cinema Garibaldi, Teatro degli Animosi – Carrara
Meetings, interviews, and debates with Michele Petrucci, Alessandro Cattaneo, and other guests.
At 6:00 p.m., Palazzo del Medico: opening of the exhibition Flavio Costantini. Anarchici.
From December 17: the EXSTRABOLD festival – visual experimentation and live media art
- December 17 – Onirica (Teatro degli Animosi, Carrara) Audiovisual installation by the FUSE* studio with images generated by AI.
- December 17–20 – NOIR (Aula Magna Accademia) Immersive installation by Pierre-Alain Giraud and Stéphane Foenkinos, in collaboration with the Centre Pompidou.
From 2025: exhibitions, festivals, and educational courses
- January 22, 2025 – Fabio Mauri. Art and IdeologyPalazzo del Medico – CarraraExhibition dedicated to the centenary of the artist, writer, and playwright.
- January 11, 2026 – Alva Noto – UNI-HYbr:ID
- February 10, 2026 – Echo Multimedia Dance Theater
- March 25, 2026 – Lorem – Time Coils Queer Codes
At the same time, a wide range of workshops, conferences, and laboratory activities will enliven the Academy and its partner institutions, including the International Festival of Social Eco Design Research (January 1 – February 28).
A tradition that innovates
“With City Open Museum, the Accademia di Carrara confirms its role in promoting and renewing Italy’s artistic heritage,” says Director Marco Baudinelli. “In a country that is itself an open-air museum, C.O.M. expands this idea by adding an innovative and contemporary dimension. Art becomes an experience that crosses cities, neighborhoods, parks, and squares, actively responding to the challenges of globalization and digitization.”
Founded in 1769, the Accademia is one of Italy’s oldest artistic institutions, with a tradition that spans centuries—from Canova to Koons, from Cattelan to Abramović—and a current community of 1,120 students from all over the world.
Information
Complete calendar of events and further information at
