National Visual Arts Award City of Gallarate — «Arte Viva»

A historic award in the heart of Gallarate

Established in 1950, the National Visual Arts Award City of Gallarate is one of Italy's longest-running art exhibitions and the historic soul of the MA*GA Museum. Its twenty-eighth edition, hosted in the museum's halls at Via Egidio de Magri 1 in Gallarate (province of Varese), is titled «Arte Viva. Performative and participatory processes as practice» and offers a reflection on art as action, relationship, and process, rather than as an object.

Five artists, a shared practice

The exhibition brings together five artists from the Italian contemporary scene: Allison Grimaldi Donahue, Francesco Fonassi, Francesca Grilli, Beatrice Marchi, and Martina Rota. Their works do not remain static: during the months of the exhibition, they are «activated» by artists and the public, using languages that involve words, the body, sound, and interaction with others.

• Allison Grimaldi Donahue
• Francesco Fonassi
• Francesca Grilli
• Beatrice Marchi
• Martina Rota

A jury of museum directors

The selection is curated by three prominent figures in the Italian museum system: Eva Fabbris (director of Madre, Naples), Lorenzo Balbi (director of MAMbo, Bologna), and Caterina Riva (director of MACTE, Termoli). A lineup that confirms the national stature of the Gallarate award.

Cultural Olympics and ARCHIVIFUTURI festival

The 28th edition is part of the Milan Cortina 2026 Cultural Olympics program and is supported by the Lombardy Region. The exhibition culminates in the collective event of the fifth edition of the ARCHIVIFUTURI festival (June 5-7, 2026), with a program dedicated to performing arts that will animate the spaces of MA*GA and the city of Gallarate.