From 29 May to 27 September 2026, MAMbo – the Museum of Modern Art in Bologna, part of the City of Bologna’s Civic Museums Department – will present Giuseppe Chiari 1926–2026. Partitura per un museo, an exhibition curated by Lorenzo Balbi and Mario Chiari, conceived to mark the centenary of the artist’s birth (Florence, 26 September 1926 – Florence, 9 May 2007) with the aim of providing a comprehensive critical overview of Chiari’s oeuvre, recognised as one of the most significant in the Italian art scene of the second half of the 20th century.
The exhibition represents the first comprehensive retrospective of Giuseppe Chiari’s work in a public institution and is distinguished by a structure that offers a detailed and cross-cutting exploration, moving beyond the logic of presentation by homogeneous groups. From this perspective, Chiari’s work is historically contextualised from the 1960s and 1970s onwards, with references to subsequent developments, and reinterpreted in the light of his connections with Fluxus in Italy and other contemporary movements. His position within these contexts is defined, however, by a substantial autonomy: an intermittent and not fully assimilable participation, which translates into a critical engagement with the movements without ever amounting to programmatic adherence.
Free admission opening: Thursday 28 May 2026, 6.00 pm – 9.00 pm
As part of the exhibition, MAMbo, in collaboration with AngelicA | Music Research Centre and the Bonotto Foundation, presents a series of three concerts featuring the music of Giuseppe Chiari:
- Thursday 28 May 2026, 7.00 pm | Reinier van Houdt performs Intervalli (1950–1956) by Giuseppe Chiari
- Saturday 26 September 2026, 5.00 pm | Agnese Toniutti – programme to be confirmed
- Saturday 26 September 2026, 7.00 pm | Chiara Saccone & Deborah Walker – programme to be confirmed
The project is supported by PAC2025 – Plan for Contemporary Art, promoted by the Directorate-General for Contemporary Creativity of the Ministry of Culture.