The fourth edition of Arte in Nuvola opens its doors on Friday, November 22, kicking off the most anticipated weekend in the Roman art scene. Hosted in the spaces of the Nuovo Centro Congressi Nuvola–a building designed by Massimiliano Fuksas and whose lightweight construction soars among the Rationalist architecture that characterizes the Eur district–, the 2024 edition calls together 140 national and international galleries, devoting special attention to Central and Southern Italy.
Since its debut in 2021, Arte in Nuvola has in fact filled the great void of art fairs in the lower peninsula. Galleries and exhibitors from cities such as Naples, Pescara, Sorrento, Scicli, Avellino, Nuoro, and Modica thus have an opportunity to showcase their selected artists to a constantly growing audience–thirty six thousand visitors were counted in 2023 alone–that consacrates Arte in Nuvola as one of the leading art fairs. Historic galleries and big names from the 20th-century art will not of course be missing.
In addition to the booths, a wide program of side events–exhibitions, performances and talks–animates the spaces of the Nuvola: from the exceptional reconstruction of Pietro Consagra’s Roman studio through a series of precious shots by Claudio Abate and nine photographs by Ugo Mulas, to the tribute to Piero Guccione, “the painter of the sea”; from the exhibition on the greatest Italian photography from the 1960s, Il gioco delle identità, to the unprecedented dialogue between Pino Pascali and Giuseppe De Nittis.
Portugal is the special guest country of this edition, focus of the exhibition Uma Volta ao Sol (A Tour Around the Sun), which invites to discover the most recent generation of artists on the Portuguese scene.
Great space is given to performance: four artistic interventions by Francesco Fonassi, Iginio De Luca, LU.PA (Lulù Nuti and Pamela Pintus) and Francesca Cornacchini. Then, during the last day, a special talk will attempt to answer the everlasting question: What do we talk about when we talk about performance?
After the first, exceptional participation in 2023, the Ministry of Culture confirms its presence with some of its most representative museum and cultural institutions: Direzione Generale Archivi, Istituto Centrale per la Grafica, Museo delle Civiltà and, finally, Fondazione MAXXI, which will offer the public two selected works from its collection, House without a title (1999) by Sislej Xhafa and Climbing (2000) by the duo Vedovamazzei.
Arte in Nuvola–“a young and smart fair,” as artistic director Adriana Polveroni called it–continues to make space for itself in the all-Nordic scenario of great art fairs, with the clear and specific mission of expanding its public, making contemporary art an engine that unites different generations and institutions.
Here are five must-see booths and events from this fourth edition.
Opening image: Portugal is the special guest country of this edition, focus of the exhibition Uma Volta ao Sol (A Tour Around the Sun)