Concept
Arte Fiera celebrated its 50th anniversary by focusing on its origins: the first, pioneering editions that in just a few years made it an international event. In 2024, the public program took a look at events, personalities, works, and publications from those years, starting from the fair’s foundation in 1974. By doing this, it also celebrated the ‘70s in Bologna, an extraordinary decade in which the city was at the vanguard (not only in Italy) in visual arts, design, architecture, and in conceiving new forms of relations among art, politics, and society. The creation of Arte Fiera was both a cause and an effect of those years, arising from the city’s innovative and bold environment and immediately giving it an essential stimulus, starting with the decision to finance the by-now legendary first Settimana internazionale della performance (International Performance Week) in 1977.