Artissima throws in the towel: the contemporary art fair scheduled from 5 to 8 November at the Oval Lingotto this year jumps due to Covid. The director of Artissima Ilaria Bonacossa announces it reluctantly with a note: “The Italian and European health situation, constantly monitored by us in order to guarantee an event in total safety, continues to record negative developments that have led us to carefully re-evaluate modalities and timing of the 2020 edition of the fair. In a context of global uncertainty, the sudden changes in the scenario and the consequent insecurity that governs the decisions of individuals therefore force us today not to proceed with the organization of Artissima in the canonical format and instead to imagine, with the usual determination and will, new ways to physically present art in Turin ».
Artissima’s organization is so complex that without certain guarantees it was decided to choose the path of prudence.
The timelapse map of the coronavirus contagion in Italy: all the numbers, regions and cities affected
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In recent weeks they had confirmed their desire to inaugurate a physical fair at the Oval with the participation of 125 Italian and international galleries. But today they are forced to take a step back, and to cancel the 27th edition of the event. The risks are too many, from international travel to organizational uncertainties linked to the health emergency, to be able to guarantee the event. The idea, however, is to continue organizing a physical program – carried out together with the Fondazione Torino Musei, and therefore Gam, Palazzo Madama and Mao – and digital projects, to be inaugurated on the same dates, from 5 to 8 November, so that Artissima continues to represent an opportunity for the city and international interlocutors to get to know and enhance contemporary art.
Instead, the new digital project of the fair is confirmed: the cross-media platform “Artissima Xyz” which will host the three curated sections of the event “Present Future”, “Back to the Future” and “Drawings” from 3 November to 9 December 2020. , which until last year were hosted at the Oval.
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