Art: vital and in the North West, the private individuals of the contemporary

Modeled as a museum or gallery, largely in the North West (43%) with Lombardy and Piedmont as the leader. 90% in the city and 7 out of 10 open all year round. They promote art and artists, organize exhibitions and events, but also make social inclusion, are protagonists of urban regeneration, invest in young people and research, collaborate with universities. This is the photograph taken from the report "Private organizations of contemporary art in Italy. Role of activity functions", promoted by the Civita Association and the Committee for Contemporary Art Foundations and Intesa SanPaolo for a mapping of the sector with a focus on the "Italian model of the Foundations".
"The report reads a great vitality - says Simonetta Giordani, secretary general of the Civita Association - There is a lot of attention to environmental issues and the objectives of the 2030 agenda, but above all we work alongside the institutions to co-design and not leave alone the state, which has increasingly scarce resources, in the enhancement of a heritage that represents our competitive identity in the world ".
"The research - Patrizia Sandretto Re Rebaudengo, president of the Contemporary Art Foundations Committee continues - highlights what has been done by private institutions, how much we have worked to make Italian artists known, to produce new works, but also to bring contemporary art closer to a increasingly large audience ".
The data of the Civita Study Center, which analyzed a sample of 63 private organizations out of the 73 originally surveyed, tell of a sector that grew above all at the dawn of the new millennium: 70% of the institutions were established after 2000, with peaks since 2008 to 2014. 37% are based in industrial or commercial structures and 35% in historic buildings. More than half (61%) own a contemporary art collection and, in several other cases, it is the founding person who owns one. On the exhibition front, if 4 out of 10 realities are comparable to museums with a permanent collection accessible to the public, over 9 out of 10 focus on temporary exhibitions. 59% offer artist residences, while 8 out of 10 realities network with public or other private institutions. Among the activities, education and training are preferred (8 out of 10), scientific projects (6 out of 10), in-house publishing productions and non-exhibition events such as book presentations, seminars, conferences. Seven out of 10 companies are open all year round and in 75% of cases admission is free. Among the most offered services, childcare (67%), free wi-fi (56%), audio guides or guided tours (54%), library or archive (51%), bookshop (44%).
"Reasoning about the languages ​​of current affairs - explains Michele Coppola, Director of art and culture and historical heritage of Intesa Sanpaolo, who has just confirmed the opening of a fourth gallery in Italy after Naples, Milan and Vicenza - is a commitment to of society, enhancing not only what has been, but intercepting the arguments of the present time ". "What we are asking today at Mibact - adds Patrizia Sandretto Re Rebaudengo - is to continue to collaborate for culture, perhaps with some more help" such as "an extension of the Art Bonus".
"Not many countries have such a defined situation, with many private operators intervening autonomously in the contemporary world. It is an excellence at European level". comments the director of Contemporary Creativity and Urban Regeneration of Mibact, Nicola Borrelli. "Resources - he says - are not a problem, but they intercept with projects and ideas". As for the Art Bonus, it is "a formidable tool. The fact that many sectors ask to be included testifies to its goodness. It is one of the topics on the agenda. Like all the themes that involve burdens on the State budget, it must be studied with particular attention ".

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