Identity

Artissima celebrated its 30th anniversary, with the support of Fondazione Compagnia di San Paolo by producing the project IDENTITY: a three- year programme that assigns value to the identifying features of the fair, which for each edition will offer in-depth focal points to shed light on the strategic lines that have contributed, across 30 years of history, to the present positioning of Artissima in the art world.

IDENTITY 2023 concentrated on the New Entries section, which welcomes the most interesting emerging international galleries enabling them to take part in the fair for the first time. Every year, this section brings proof of Artissima’s expertise in the field of international scouting, a key factor of its project approach that has always assigned value to the galleries of the new generation seeking intense relationships with collectors, curators and art lovers within the Artissima context. The outcome is the construction of a network of contacts that goes beyond the positive response of the market, becoming a true motor of growth for the galleries’ activities and their work in relation to the artists they represent.

IDENTITY took concrete form in the activation of the IDENTITY Fund for New Entries, an economic resource of support for three galleries to participate in the section, and in the creation of New Entries BAR, a special project in the fair curated by Cripta747, with the objective of offering galleries in the section another showcase and an opportunity to reveal their specific areas of investigation. The path of IDENTITY in 2023 underscored the history of Artissima, which has fostered a dual identity from the outset: that of a market platform, and that of a reservoir of cultural production.