With three works designed and created specifically for this occasion, Riccardo Benassi
(Cremona, 1982), Many Ben Hamoudas (Milan, 1991) e Binta Diaw (Milan, 1995) the protagonists
of the exhibition of the fourth edition of MAXXI BVLGARI AWARDthe project that has been uniting us for some time now
MAXXI and Bulgaria, together to support young artists and promote them in Italy and around the world.
The care of Giulia Ferracci and set up in the Gian Ferrari room of the Museum, the exhibition opens to the public multiple 25
October and then concluded in 2025 when the winner is announced and the acquisition of his work, which becomes part of the permanent MAXXI collection.
As in previous editions, this time too visitors will be able to vote for the work they admire the most.
It was announced last October 2023 during a special event at the Italian Embassy in Paris, the three
an international jury made up of the finalists unanimously selected Francesco Stocchi,
MAXXI art director; Nicolas BourriaudDirector of the curatorial group Radicants and Director
the art of the 15th Gwangju Biennial (South Korea); Diana Campbellart director of Samdani
Art Foundation (Dhaka, Bangladesh) and Chief Curator Dhaka Art Summit; Andrea LissoniArt Director
della House of Art in Monaco di Baviera; Out Meta Bauerfounder and Director of the NTU Center for
Contemporary Art Singapore and Artistic Director of the 2024 Contemporary Art Biennale in Diriyah
(Saudi Arabia). The jury selected the finalists from a shortlist of candidates identified by leading figures on the Italian contemporary art scene: Antonia Alampi, Maria Alicata, Martina Angelotti,
Nicolas Ballario, Lucrezia Cippitelli, Valentino Catricalà, the duo Alfredo Cramerotti and Aurora Scalera,
Lorenzo Madaro, Francesco Urbano Ragazzi.
The big news of this fourth edition of the Prize is the MAXXI BVLGARI PRIZE for Digital Artwhich is
the special mention for the best digital project was awarded to Roberto Fasson. On January 17, 2025,
announcement date of the winner, the artist will present the project And we thought (2021 –
ongoing), a Sineglossa production, in which he explores the relationship between the author and artificial intelligence, exploring the limits of imagination and challenging the self-referential logic of the art system
contemporary.
Born in 2001 as a Prize for Young Art, starting from the 2018 edition it became MAXXI BVLGARI.
AWARD, strengthening itself thanks to the valuable support of Bulgaria. The Award is the core of the
MAXXI’s art collection and over the years has been an important launch pad for many artists,
contributing to their innovative and experimental artistic performances. Finalists in previous editions include: Yuri Ancarani, Giorgio Andreotta Calò, Vanessa Beecroft, Rossella Biscotti, Lara Favaretto,
Marinella Senatore, Nico Vascellari, Francesco Vezzoli, Tomaso De Luca, Diego Marcon,
Alessandra Ferrini.
How the exhibition takes place. The works
A reading room set up with drawings, images, videos and documents introduces the visitor to the universe of the exhibition’s three main characters. In the aesthetic variety of their expressive methods, the artists outline the new frontiers of an art that imagines the future through their personal reading of the past and the present.
ASSENZAHAH ESSENZAHAH (2024) by Riccardo Benassi will open the exhibition itinerary. Within it
of the freight elevator MAXXI two robotic dogs perform real choreographies created by the artist,
moving in space accompanied by a musical composition and laser text projected onto the walls. The installation opens up new perspectives on our lives and the impact of new technologies that affect our domestic, emotional and physical spaces.
In the center of the space is the work of Binta Diaw, full of personal and collective memory: it is called Juroom.
ñaar (2024) and is inspired by the historical event of 1819 commemorated by the artist with seven columns of
coal In fact, there were seven women from the Senegalese village of Nder who died by setting themselves on fire
avoided slavery after the invasion of the Moors. Around the sculptures braids of hair, sounds and voices
The Wolof language accompanies the visitor as he contemplates the forms of resistance to abuse.
With Collapse Theology (The Myth of Past) IX (2024) by Monia Ben Hamouda we are confronted
a visual language full of cultural and ritual symbolism and the journey of the exhibition ends.
The work consists of ten laser-carved iron panels with motifs inspired by Islamic calligraphy and
to mosques. The plates, painted with spices including paprika, hibiscus and cinnamon, are installed on the
the back wall of the gallery, creating a perverse effect that shows the fragility of identities
contemporary.
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