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miart’s Three-Tier Experiment Reflects a Changing Milan

The 30th edition of the modern and contemporary art fair experimented with a new layout that stratified galleries.

In the run-up to the chaos that is Salone del Mobile and Milan’s design week—as attested by the many construction sites throughout the city—miart opened with its own offering, vying for a place in the Italian art scene. The fair, which ran from April 17 to 19, inaugurated its 30th edition within a new location in Allianz MiCo conference hall in Milan’s northwestern district. It featured early twentieth-century works—with plenty of Lucio Fontana, Gino Severini and Alighiero Boetti to go around—as well as a wide swathe of contemporary practices. This inclusion of modern art notably distinguishes the fair from Artissima, the Turin-based autumn fair dedicated exclusively to contemporary work.

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The peculiar architecture of Allianz MiCo overlooks the impersonal CityLife mall and several skyscrapers; one miart attendee remarked that this backdrop “brings a little Dubai to Milan.” The fair, which had 60 percent Italian representation and 40 percent international representation, was divided into three sections layered across three floors. This was the first time the fair was configured as such, and the change was considered disruptive; galleries were worried their collectors might not find them. However, miart’s fair director Nicola Ricciardi felt the pause between floors would be “refreshing” for the gaze: “It helps the collector pay more attention. They have to readjust.” He added, “We needed to offer people something different. These are not the times for cut and paste, always doing the same thing.” Some felt the top floor (with the most prominent galleries) was neglected due to poor signage, while others found it easier to distinguish between the strata of art offerings because they weren’t all compressed in the same amorphous space. 

One Milanese journalist noted some absences at the fair, including........

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