In a climate of great enthusiasm and concrete opportunities, the 32nd edition of Artissima International Contemporary Art Fair of Torino came to its conclusion. Directed for the fourth year by Luigi Fassi, Artissima confirmed its central role on the international contemporary art scene, consolidating a model of success that interacts with the city, and asserting its identity as a laboratory of the contemporary, and a trusted platform for art in Italy. The first major Italian fair on the autumn calendar, and the most international on the Italian scene, this year Artissima acted as a concrete proving ground for the new 5% VAT rate on works of art in a context of European counterparts.
Artissima Operating Manual for Spaceship Earth
The theme of this year’s edition – Operating Manual for Spaceship Earth, inspired by the thinking of Richard Buckminster Fuller – coherently crossed the entire curatorial project, from the historical to the curated sections, as well as a number of projects presented by institutions, opening up shared reflections on collective responsibility and imagination as a resource in the present.
The 176 galleries from 36 countries and 5 continents have brought to Torino a range of offerings at a very high curatorial level, balancing experimentation and market, while consolidating the global reputation of the fair as a platform of trust and innovation.
Artissima has thus reasserted its own dual nature: fair and institution, marketplace but also a context of thought, capable of acting as a project of cultural diplomacy. The 2025 edition reinforced the dialogue with international institutions, the networks of museums and new players in the world of collecting, opening reflections on the civil and symbolic value of art.
The numbers of Artissima 2025
In the 4 days of the fair, Artissima welcomed: 34,500 participants including guests, visitors and artworld professionals and 176 galleries, of which 26 took part in the fair for the first time. There were 63 monographic projects, 13 prizes, honours and grants, and 1 acquisition fund.
The galleries exhibiting works arrived from 36 countries and 5 continents: Argentina, Austria, Australia, Belgium, Brazil, Bulgaria, Canada, China, Colombia, Croatia, Cuba, Arab Emirates, France, Georgia, Germany, Greece, Hong Kong, Italy, Lithuania, Mexico, Netherlands, Peru, Poland, Portugal, United Kingdom, Romania, Singapore, Slovenia, Spain, United States, South Africa, Switzerland, Turkey, Hungary, Uruguay and Zimbabwe.
The Acquisition Fund and the Prizes
For its 25th anniversary, for the third consecutive year Fondazione Arte CRT has increased the historic Acquisition Fund to a total of 300,000 euros, to benefit the collections of GAM – Galleria Civica d’Arte Moderna di Torino and Castello di Rivoli Museo d’Arte Contemporanea, acquiring 26 new works by 11 artists: John Giorno (Thomas Brambilla, Bergamo, Eva Presenhuber, Zurich), Cian Dayrit (Nome, Berlin), Majd Abdel Hamid (P420, Bologna), John Menick (MATTA, Milano), Felix Shumba (Fonti, Napoli) and Valentina Furian (UNA, Piacenza, Milano) for the permanent collection of Castello di Rivoli Museo d’Arte Contemporanea; David Schutter (Magazzino, Roma), Simon Callery (1/9Unosunove, Roma), Alessandro Pessoli (P420, Bologna), Marco Cingolani (Thomas Brambilla, Bergamo) and Franciszka and Stefan Themerson (Import Export, Warsaw, London) for the halls of GAM – Galleria Civica d’Arte Moderna e Contemporanea di Torino.
ILLY PRESENT FUTURE PRIZE, assigned to Louis Morlae, presented by the gallery Rose Easton, London.
ORLANE PER L’ARTE PRIZE, assigned to ZERO…, Milano.
TOSETTI VALUE FOR PHOTOGRAPHY PRIZE, assigned to the group Alterazioni Video presented by the gallery Guido Costa Projects, Torino.
VANNI #ARTISTROOM PRIZE, assigned to Valentina Furian, presented by the gallery UNA, Piacenza, Milano.
MATTEO VIGLIETTA AWARD, assigned to Davide Stucchi, presented by the gallery Martina Simeti, Milano.
CAROL RAMA AWARD, assigned to Zoe Williams, presented by Ciaccia Levi, Paris, Milano.
DIANA BRACCO – IMPRENDITRICI AD ARTE PRIZE, assigned to Marta Barbieri and Paola Bonino, UNA, Piacenza, Milano.
PREMIO OELLE – MEDITERRANEO ANTICO PRIZE, assigned to Thomias Radin, presented by the gallery Esther Schipper, Berlin, Seoul, Paris.
PISTA 500 PRIZE, assigned to Iris Touliatou, presented by the gallery Sylvia Kouvali, London, Piraeus.
“AD OCCHI CHIUSI…” PRIZE, assigned to Caroline Cordeiro, presented by the gallery Galatea, Sao Paulo, Salvador.
VILNIUS RESIDENCY PRIZE, assigned to Rodrigo Hernandez, presented by the gallery ChertLüdde, Berlin, and P420, Bologna; Pietro Moretti, presented by 1/9unosunove, Roma.
ETTORE AND INES FICO PRIZE, assigned to Giovanni Termini, presented by the gallery ME Vannucci, Pistoia.
ARTISSIMA NEW ENTRIES FUND, assigned to Vohm, Seoul; Trotoar, Zagreb; zazà, Milano, Napoli.
Highlights
The special projects of Artissima, developed in collaboration with counterparts and institutions of the city of Torino, achieved great impact and acclaim.
At the fair: anonymous art project, a creative project for the promotion of Japanese contemporary art, with a vision that intertwines personal responsibility with collective commitment, thanks to the initiative of the entrepreneur Hiroyuki Maki. Artissima Junior, in collaboration with Juventus, invited younger visitors to take part in a workshop conducted by the artist Stefano Arienti (Studio Sales gallery). Intesa Sanpaolo, the Main Partner of the fair, presented a selection of works by the photographer Anastasia Samoylova, an American artist who explores the relationship between environment and cultural identity through documentary photography. MADE IN, the project of artists’ residencies inside companies organized by Artissima with the support of Camera di commercio di Torino, launched its fourth edition with exceptional new partners: Ferrino, Galup, Oscalito 1936, Blue Engineering. The site-specific project for the VIP Lounge, NO MANUAL, by the art duo the back studio (MATTA gallery) featured furnishings by NM3. The initiative WoW – World of Words focused on the value of publishing and its protagonists, taking concrete form in four spaces inside the fair: Edicola, Editorial area, Bookshop and the palimpsest of WoW Talks coordinated by Francesca Spiller. Mondi possibili. Dialoghi tra arte e letteratura, the special programme of encounters and conversations between artists and contemporary writers, was supported by Fondazione Compagnia di San Paolo. Mundialito, an invitational table football tournament for artworld professionals invented by the curatorial duo Treti Galaxie (Matteo Mottin and Ramona Ponzini) and the new lounge Artissima Cabaña enlivened the spaces of the 32nd edition.
An Instruction Manual, produced and distributed by Artissima, brings together the voices of curators and artists to create a true guide through the present and into the near future. The AudioGuides accompanied the public for an independent and personal pathway through the stands, sponsored by Lauretana and produced with the support of Fondazione Compagnia di San Paolo.
In town: Gallerie d’Italia – Torino hosted The screen is a muscle, a group show of artists’ films and videos curated by Luca Lo Pinto. The former Zoo at Parco Michelotti presented the short film New Acid by the artist Basim Magdy (Hunt Kastner gallery). Hotel Principi di Piemonte | UNA Esperienze welcomed the work Vittoria sul sole by Renato Leotta (Sproveri gallery). At the Pista 500 of Pinacoteca Agnelli visitors saw the project Vitruvian Figure (Juventus) by Paul Pfeiffer (Thomas Dane gallery), winner of the second edition of Pista 500 Prize, consisting of an immersive sound installation accompanied by a large-format image displayed ono the billboard of the track. Fondazione Sandretto Re Rebaudengo presented Portrait, a new work by Angharad Williams (Fanta-MLN gallery), winner of the illy Present Future Prize 2024, focusing on representation, the history of portraiture of nobility and the poetics of magical realisms. The VANNI occhiali showroom offered an exclusive look at Goggles, the capsule collection of artist’s eyewear based on a project by Nicola Bizzarri (Fuocherello gallery), winner of the VANNI #artistroom Prize at Artissima 2024.
Stay tuned!
Thanks to our exhibitors and partners.
The 33rd edition of Artissima will welcome you in 2026!
In the meantime, to continue to enjoy the contemporary art seen in the fair, don’t forget to: explore the online catalogue with the works of all our exhibitors; listen to the AudioGuides, to discover the artists and artworks of Artissima 2025; browse through our Instruction Manual, Artissima’s publication in honour of the thinking of Richard Buckminster Fuller: Operating Manual for Spaceship Earth.