The 30th edition of miart 2026 has come to a close, with awards, acquisitions and commissions announced. Under the direction of Nicola Ricciardi, and with the title New Directions (homage to Coltrane’s famous 1963 album but also a true statement of intent)-the Milan fair embraces a transformation that involves every aspect of its identity: from curatorial content to dialogue with galleries, from coordinated image to the visitor experience itself.
Symbolically marking a new evolutionary phase, miart changes venue and moves to the South Wing of Allianz MiCo: an architectural space with an international scope, adjacent to the historical pavilion of the fair and overlooking the contemporary park of CityLife – an urban landscape that becomes a metaphor of openness and vision, that expands, welcomes, listens: an exhibition complex like a score, ready to be interpreted in an unprecedented way, between experimentation and belonging, between new and recognizable. Within the three-level exhibition complex, the historical Emergent and Established sections are confirmed, which is enriched this year by an unprecedented selection of exhibition projects, named Established Anthology.
The awards given in this edition
The Fondazione Fiera Milano Acquisition Fund, with a budget of 100 thousand euros, selected ten works to enrich its collection. The jury, composed of Emma Enderby, Arturo Galansino and Giovanni Morale, awarded prizes to artists such as Vivian Suter, Sergio Fermariello, Claudia Comte, Nika Kutateladze, Tobias Just, Sung Tieu, Giosetta Fioroni, the Concorde collective, Theresa Buchner and Marco Scarpi.
The Herno Prize, worth 10 thousand euros, recognized the best installation to the Zurich gallery Mai 36 Galerie, in the Established Anthology section, for the exhibition dialogue between Mapplethorpe and Jacopo Benassi.
For the Emergent section, the LCA Studio Law Prize (4 thousand euros) was awarded to Lovay Fine Arts, with a special mention for artist Sem Lala.
The Orbital Cultura – Nexi Group Prize, dedicated to photography and the enhancement of Italy’s cultural heritage, has selected Armin Linke, who has been commissioned to carry out a project on the Baths of Caracalla.
For the third SZ CAM Sugar miart commission (5 thousand euros), the award went to Marco Pio Mucci, who presented a work based on the reworking of magnetic tapes related to the works of Piero Umiliani and Bruno Maderna, integrated into a contemporary painting practice.
The Archivorum Publication Award was given to Dr. Frank Wasser (COMMUNE), for a publishing project that interweaves theoretical reflection, performance and analysis of power dynamics.
The Matteo Visconti di Modrone Prize (10 thousand euros) was awarded to Diambe, with the possibility of producing a work at the Fonderia Artistica Battaglia. The special mention went to SofĂa Salazar Rosales, while the Massimo Giorgetti Prize (5 thousand euros) again awarded Theresa Buchner for a research focused on the relationship between visibility and the inner dimension.
Finally, the Milan Brera Rotary Club Prize for Contemporary Art and Young Artists, aimed at an acquisition for the Museo del Novecento, was awarded to Emilio Gola (Monica De Cardenas) for the work Untitled.
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