In Bergamo, Italy's first two art fairs of 2025, from antique to contemporary to high antiques

From Jan. 10-19, 2025, Bergamo opens the Italian art fair calendar with two events: the 20th edition of BAF Bergamo Arte Fiera, dedicated to modern and contemporary art (Jan. 10-12), and the 8th edition of IFA Italian Fine Art, focusing on ancient art and fine antiques (Jan. 10-19). Both events will take place at the 16,000-square-meter Pavilions A and B and related foyers of the Bergamo Fairgrounds.

Two fairs, 600 years of art history.

With 167 total exhibitors-86 for BAF and 81 for IFA-the two fairs will offer a journey through art from the 15th century to the present day. The hundreds of works on display, including those of museum significance, will give collectors, enthusiasts and the curious an opportunity for direct contact with gallery owners, experts and sometimes the artists themselves.

Both fairs are designed to welcome diverse audiences, from industry professionals to families and art novices. To facilitate participation, the single entrance ticket, valid for both events, is confirmed again this year. And for children under the age of 12, admission is free.

What’s New 2025

Greater selectivity at BAF: Participating galleries have been chosen with tighter criteria to ensure high quality offerings. Among the participating galleries are Tornabuoni Arte (Florence, Milan, Forte dei Marmi, Rome, Crans Montana, Paris, London), Ca’ di Fra’ (Milan), Deodato Arte (Milan, Pietrasanta, Courmayeur, Rome, St. Moritz, Chia, Padua), Galleria de’ Bonis (Reggio Emilia), Galleria L’Incontro (Chiari BS), Galleria Accademia (Turin), Open Art (Prato), Galleria Giovanni Bonelli (Milan, Pietrasanta, Canneto sull’Oglio), Candy Snake (Milan), Caputo Colossi Incontro d’Arte (Brescia), DL Arte (Milan), Galleria Ferrero Arte Contemporanea (Ivrea), Madeinart Gallery (Milan), Salamon Fine Art (Milan), Spirale di Idee (Milan), Stefano Malinverno Arte Moderna e Contemporanea (Milan).

Vetting Committee for IFA: To ensure the authenticity of the works on display, a committee of experts was introduced in collaboration with FIMA (Italian Federation of Art Dealers). In the days leading up to the opening, each work is meticulously examined for authenticity, condition and attribution.

New Partners: In addition to established main sponsors Banco BPM and Intesa San Paolo, Mediobanca joins this year, recognizing BAF and IFA as an exclusive opportunity to offer its most important clients.

“We are always very proud to open our new fair year under the banner of all-round art,” comments Luciano Patelli, president of Promoberg, “with two important cultural events that have the merit of attracting thousands of increasingly competent and interested people. Even in the most difficult years for the general environment and art in particular, Promoberg has always believed and brought in new resources. The excellent results obtained so far confirm the goodness of the project and testify to our continued strong commitment also in the promotion of art and culture, involving an ever wider audience of galleries and collectors: a commitment that we strengthen year after year.”

Public Program

TheTalk Area, set up in the Central Gallery, will feature appointments dedicated to ancient, modern and contemporary art. For lovers of ancient art is the appointment with Giovanni Valagussa, former director of the Accademia Carrara in Bergamo, who will delve into the profile of Giovanni Carnovali known as Il Piccio - a nineteenth-century painter - through masterpieces from an important private collection.
Cesare Benaglia, a Valbrembo artist born in 1932, will be the protagonist of another moment in the program schedule: a forerunner of land art and a sustainable approach to art, the docufilm Abbecedario naturale is dedicated to him, presenting him in all his sensitivity as a man and an artist.

Aimed instead at the world of collecting will be the talk Imprenditoria e arte, with Simona Leggeri and the two entrepreneurs Gabriele Rampinelli and Giuseppe Taramelli.

In the Caravaggio Room, Sergio Curtacci, professor at the University of Bergamo, independent curator and creator of the online project Google Arts & Culture, will offer a glimpse toward the future of Cultural Heritage with a meeting on “Smart Museums,” or those museum spaces that make use of new technologies, such as virtual reality, augmented reality and artificial intelligence, to facilitate the enjoyment of their collections.

“We have always tried to distinguish ourselves from other sector events by creating collateral initiatives related to the history of art and its protagonists,” says Sergio Radici, curator of the Public Program, “to become a moment of growth for the city. Every year we work to make sure that IFA and BAF are not only albeit beautiful market-exhibitions, where collectors and experts can meet works and artists thanks to the many galleries that believe in this project, but also a shared place in which to learn, explore and ’form’ one’s own culture about the art world.”

Installations and exhibitions

Solo exhibitions and installations will be scattered throughout the exhibition spaces. To the environmentally sized installations by Helidon Xhixha, present at the fair with the monumental steel works Elliptical Reflection and Lancio di luce, by Elvino Motti - his is the methacrylate sculpture Angels and Demons - and Max Marra, whose Alchemy of Water, Light, Colors, Transparencies celebrates the element of water, alternate with exhibitions by Gaetano De Faveri Algorithm, a photographer who mixes digital processing and photographic process in his work.

The fair trespasses into the city with the exhibition 10 + Modern Art, which celebrates the ancient bond between Bergamo and Venice by exhibiting the works of twenty contemporary artists-ten from Bergamo and ten from Venice-in two stages: the first, in the Sala Viterbi of the Palazzo della Provincia in Bergamo, from January 15 to 30, 2025; the second at the Church of San Leonardo in Venice, from February 3 to 16. Curated by Sergio Radici and Anny Lazzari, the group show exhibits paintings and sculptures by Maurizio Azzolini, Sergio Battarola, Cesare Benaglia, Giovanna Bolognini, Manuel Bonfanti, Raffaele Bovo, Giuseppe Coppola, Giancarlo Defendi, Giulia Enzo, Tiziano Finazzi, Barbara Furlan, Claudio Granaroli, Margherita Leoni, Moni Marceau Roj, Ugo Riva, Katia Scotti, Arturo Siebessi, Silvia Stocchetto, Alessandro Verdi and Sergio Vozza.

IFA - Italian Fine Art 2025

Venue: Fiera di Bergamo, PAD. A, via Lunga - 24125 Bergamo

Dates: Friday, January 10 to Sunday, January 19, 2025

Hours: Monday to Friday, 3 p.m. - 7 p.m. Saturday and Sunday, 10 a.m. - 7 p.m.

Admission: Single for BAF and IFA - Full 10 euros; reduced (over 65 years) 8 euros; online 9 euros. Free up to 12 years of age (can be picked up directly at the cashiers at the Fair)

Info: www.italianfineart.eu

BAF - Bergamo Art Fair 2025

Venue: Bergamo Art Fair, HALL. B, via Lunga - 24125 Bergamo

Dates: Friday, January 10 to Sunday, January 12, 2025

Opening by invitation Thursday, January 9, 2025, from 6:30 to 8 p.m.

Hours: 10 a.m. - 7 p.m.

Admission: Single for BAF and IFA - Full 10 euros; reduced (over 65 years) 8 euros; online 9 euros. Free up to 12 years of age (can be picked up directly at the houses at the Fair)

Info: www.bergamoartefiera.it

In Bergamo, Italy's first two art fairs of 2025, from antique to contemporary to high antiques

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