public support

The Italian Council is the program of the Ministry of Culture, promoted by Direzione Generale Creatività Contemporanea, to support contemporary Italian creativity and project it onto the international scene. Established in 2017 on the initiative of Direzione Generale Arte e Architettura Contemporanee e Periferie Urbane, now Direzione Generale Creatività Contemporanea, its aim is to promote knowledge and dissemination of Italian creativity in the field of visual arts.
Over the years, its mission has been renewed and expanded, managing to support and finance various cultural activities and productions with an increasingly broad and redefined offer, allowing a wide range of projects to be supported and promoted, especially abroad. The fields now range from research to residencies, from international promotion to the publication of editorial projects.
Over time, the Italian Council has progressively expanded its horizons, becoming one of the main reference points for artists, curators, and critics. Since 2019, the program has broadened its scope, including support for international promotion projects, artistic residencies, and editorial initiatives. Since 2020, the project has also supported Italian curators for international exhibitions. Its core aim? To enhance established and emerging Italian talents by fostering dialogue with cultural institutions around the world.
In its first five editions, the Italian Council financed 40 projects exclusively dedicated to the production of new artworks, intended to enrich the collections of Italian museums after a period of international valorization, through collaboration—as project proponents or cultural partners—with international artistic and museum institutions for promotion activities beyond national borders. In case of winning the call, funding is guaranteed covering up to 80% of the total project cost, within a maximum limit established according to the type of intervention.

Today, the areas of intervention of the Italian Council are structured into three main fields:

Field 1: Enrichment of public collections – Support for the creation of works intended for the Italian heritage.

Field 2: International promotion – Projects that foster the presence of Italian artists, curators, and critics in events, exhibitions, or publications abroad.

Field 3: Talent development – Training paths and residencies to support professional growth.

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The resources distributed

Year after year, the Italian Council has grown, gained greater notoriety, and the resources allocated  have also reached significant levels. In the initial phase—therefore up to 2019, before the expansion to other areas of application—a total of €4,86 million was distributed for the first 4 calls, then resumed in 2021 with almost € 2,5 million in funding. Overall, from 2017 to 2024, 13 editions of the Italian Council were held, and resources amounting to € 19.336.921,14 were distributed, which made it possible, among other things, to produce and acquire 109 new works of art, and 46 Italian museums saw their collections enriched with new high-quality works of art.

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The expansion of museum collections

From 2017 to 2024, 109 new works of art were produced through participation in the Italian Council, and 46 Italian museums saw their collections increased with high-quality art works. In particular, the museums that most increased their collections of artworks were MADRE - Museum of Contemporary Art Donna Regina in Naples and MAMbo – Museum of Modern Art in Bologna, which each added 10 works to their collections. Following closely is MUSEION in Bolzano with seven new works in the collection, MART in Rovereto, Castello di Rivoli, and GAMeC in Bergamo, which each increased their collections with six works. It is also noteworthy that several smaller or more peripheral institutions—such as Centro Pecci, MAN in Nuoro, and MACTE in Termoli—benefited from the Italian Council, each acquiring three new works.

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The network and international events

A very important aspect that the Italian Council has promoted is allowing our artists, curators, and critics to position themselves in an increasingly globalized market, which requires continuous comparison between different experiences where borders are increasingly blurred. One of the strengths is the construction of interaction networks, institutional bodies, foundations, associations, which in various capacities have participated in the artist’s project relationship.
Among the various cultural partnerships, we mention the International Studio & Curatorial Program (ISCP), New York (USA), Kadist, Paris (France), State of Concept, Athens (Greece), CAC Geneva, Geneva (Switzerland), FRAC in France, Kulturfolger, Zurich (Switzerland), Gasworks & Triangle Network (London, UK), to name just a few. There are no certain data on the actual impact that the Italian Council is having regarding the international positioning of our artists, but thanks to this program, productions such as moving images and Italian artist films are gaining prestigious spaces at the most important festivals worldwide. Furthermore, opportunities for participation by artists involved in winning projects at national and international fairs or events have increased.
With the 6th edition in 2019, the Italian Council expanded its intervention to support participation in international events, which allowed several artists to take part in international Biennials. Here are some examples: artist Nico Vascellari  participated in the XV Lyon Biennale with the installation Horse Power, Patrizio Di Massimo at the Kathmandu Triennale 2077 through Siddhartha Art Foundation, Kathmandu, Nepal; Marinella Senatore, with the partnership of Fundação Bienal de São Paulo, took part in the 34th São Paulo Biennial; the project Adaptability (Like a Flood) by Adelita Husni-Bey was supported by the Italian Council for participation in the Sharjah Biennale 2025 with the support of Sharjah Art Foundation (Sharjah, United Arab Emirates).
Among international exhibitions, Gian Maria Tosatti staged the exhibition The Diptych of Trauma first at the Izolyatsia Platform for Cultural Initiatives in Kyiv and later at Depo – Anadolu Kültür in Istanbul; the artists Goldschmied & Chiari exhibited at International Arts and Artists, Washington, USA.
In other editions, several solo exhibitions were realized, such as that of Emilio Isgrò at the CAFA (Central Academy of Fine Arts) in Beijing, and Paola Pivi  at the Anchorage Museum (Anchorage, Alaska, USA), among others.

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Strengths, critical issues, and limitations

The Italian Council certainly represents a strategic platform to give international visibility to Italian female and male artists, often underrepresented in global circuits; it also promotes the creation of networks between art professionals – artists, curators, critics, gallerists – and important foreign cultural institutions, contributing to the circulation of ideas and cultural exchange. Finally, the provision of funding allows for the realization of ambitious projects that otherwise would hardly see the light, supporting research, production, and acquisition of artworks for Italian public collections.
Interviews with those who proposed some of the winning projects highlight how the Italian Council is a useful tool for supporting artists, for promoting Italian art, as well as a valid strategy for the expansion of public collections: in Italy, it is emphasized, there is currently no better tool for the production of even complex works or particularly ambitious projects because they are “out of scale” compared to traditional programming and require significant funding. The Italian Council therefore represents valid support and, not least, helps to strengthen the institutional credibility of the partners involved in presenting themselves to international institutions, facilitating the feasibility, presentation, and enhancement of the projects.
In essence, the Italian Council partially balances what already happens for foreign artists who, often supported by their national institutions (various types of Arts Councils), are hosted by Italian organizations, enriching their programs and promoting knowledge and cultural exchange between nations and geographical areas.
A fundamental aspect of the positive outcome of the application is the trust-based relationship that the proposing association establishes with the artist; a relationship that is even more important in the case of the production of a new work. And if the request reaches its conclusion, the collaboration becomes a moment of growth both for the artist and for the small proposing entities, which have the opportunity to engage with major events and important international institutions. 

Finally, some underline that, in general, the calls and the Italian Council specifically are an important tool to document and promote the project-based work of Italian female and male artists not only abroad but, above all, in Italy. It is important, according to the interviewees, that Italian artists have official recognition and the opportunity to carry out projects that will be collected by museums and public collections in Italy, without depending only on possible donations from collectors many years later. In fact, if artists are not valued and recognized by Italian institutions, it will be difficult for them to establish themselves abroad.

However, there are also critical issues and criticisms raised by those who participated: although it contains useful elements for the promotion and support of Italian art abroad, the Italian Council is considered insufficient. The criticism essentially stems from the observation of the lack, in our country, of a cultural policy with a long-term vision, equipped with a strategy and an efficient network for discussion, first nationally and then also internationally. The Italian Council project, it is noted, is limited to supporting projects initiated and managed almost always by the sole initiative and ability of the individual artist, alongside contemporary art galleries. These, once again, end up filling in the gaps of the system but cannot even be mentioned and, as a result, remain excluded from a broader system and strategy.

Significant, in this regard, is the comparison with similar institutions in other European countries. One example among many is the complex English organization of The Arts Council, the British Council, and the Department for Culture Media and Sport (DCMS), each of which has its own collection in support of English art (The Arts Council Collection, British Council Collection, and The Government Art Collection) and its own strategy, planned and decided in agreement with each other, with the common goal of supporting English art and culture both at home and abroad.

Another critical point, which emerged from some interviews, concerns the disbursement of funds. Compared to the English practice, which distributes the majority of funds, 80%, at the beginning and the remaining 20% at the end, the Ministry’s procedure provides that, once the funding is approved, it is still the proposer who must advance the amount, which will only be reimbursed later. This procedure often puts those who do not have capital to advance in difficulty, forcing them to resort to bank loans, with an evident further complication of the organizational machinery.

On the other hand, despite some bureaucratic difficulties, there are those among the interviewees who have found attentive and concrete interlocutors in the Ministry, capable of following the project process both before and after the approval of the funding. However, for younger artists, the administrative procedure proves demanding and discourages their participation: despite having a respectable artistic curriculum, they do not have or do not find the right support from associations to share the more demanding aspects of the application.

In general, the experience proves to be positive and certainly formative. And those who already have experience in project writing for calls did not encounter major difficulties in drafting the project and its economic plan, as well as in the subsequent reporting phases. Also because, in case of need or doubts, participants always received clarifications from the officials responsible for managing the progress of the projects before and after the approval of funding.

More complicated and difficult, however, was the mediation between the museum that must accept the donation of the artwork, as required by the call, and the MiC (Ministero della Cultura), due to different positions expressed by the two entities on the donation/transfer of the work, with the risk that, after years, the final destination of the work is still not defined.

A positive aspect reported by the interviewees is the Ministry’s willingness to improve, edition after edition, the rules and procedures, which has allowed, compared to the first edition in 2017, a reduction in bureaucracy. And they offer a suggestion to institutions: to keep separate the production of a work from its promotion abroad.

Interview respondents included:
Anna Detheridge and Laura Riva (Connecting Cultures); Andrea Chieli, Gail Cochrane, Elena Iside Pandolfo, Beatrice Sacco, Guido Santandrea, Laura Sinagra Brisca (Almanac Inn); Federica Schiavo (for the project Zero (weak fist) at the Polo Museale dell’Emilia Romagna); Stefano Raimondi (THE BLANK CONTEMPORARY ART); Federica Schiavo (for the project Surreal Science: Loudon Collection with Salvatore Arancio at Whitechapel, London); and Associazione Culturale Curva (INCURVA).

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