Milan announces a year full of exhibitions, and in 2026 Kiefer will also arrive at Palazzo Reale

Milan’s 2025 will be full of exhibitions: presented by the City of Milan the exhibition program for next year, with some anticipation of 2026 as well.The new programming embraces different disciplines, from photography to painting, from design to installation, focusing on current issues such as multiculturalism and gender identity. The featured venues will be Palazzo Reale, the PAC Padiglione d’Arte Contemporanea, MUDEC Museo delle Culture and Fabbrica del Vapore, in addition to the spaces of the Musei Civici dedicated to temporary exhibitions.

Palazzo Reale’s major exhibitions

The Palazzo Reale’s programming opens with a national preview dedicated to George Hoyningen-Huene (St. Petersburg, 1900 - Los Angeles, 1968), with more than one hundred shots by the master of 20th-century photography, and continues with a major retrospective on Felice Casorati (Novara, 1883 - Turin 1963), a leading figure in 20th-century Italian art. On the occasion of the centenary of the Exposition internationale des arts décoratifs et industriels modernes in Paris, which marked the establishment of the “Style 1925” that spread throughout Europe after World War I, the Art Deco exhibition will present the public with extraordinary examples of Italian and European decorative arts, from glassware to porcelain, textiles andjewelry, furniture and majolica, but also paintings, sculptures, drawings and advertising posters, as well as period images and film clips, to restore as much as possible the climate and atmosphere of theera, while The Gaze of the Sphinx will spotlight Leonor Fini (Buenos Aires 1907 - Paris 1996), an Italian-Argentine artist who has been rediscovered and re-studied for her work on current issues such as gender and identity.

In spring, photography will return with a retrospective dedicated to Mario Giacomelli (Senigallia, 1925 - 2000), which will display more than 300 original photographic works including vintage and vintage prints, documents and archival materials, while during the summer two other exhibitions will accompany the public in getting to know, or rediscover, important Italian artists, such as Valerio Berruti (Alba, 1977) and Remo Salvadori (Cerreto Guidi, 1947).

Surrealism will also return to prominence in the fall with two other exhibitions: one dedicated to Man Ray (Philadelphia, 1890 - Paris, 1976), a celebrated artist who was a painter, photographer and film director, as well as a representative first of the American Dada movement and then of the French and European Surrealist movement, and another to Leonora Carrington (Lancaster, 1917 - Mexico City, 2011), which will explore the relationship between the British artist and Italian art, interweaving magic, witchcraft and feminine power.

Closing out the year is Appiani. The Splendor of Milan from Parini to Napoleon, a tribute to the celebrated neoclassical painter Andrea Appiani (Milan, 1754 - 1817), with a narrative that reconstructs environments and atmospheres of the Napoleonic period.

And some anticipation for 2026 is already arriving: in fact, Palazzo Reale will host a site-specific installation by Anselm Kiefer in the Sala delle Cariatidi in February 2026, on the occasion of the opening of the Winter Olympic Games. In early 2026, Palazzo Reale will also host a major exhibition on the Macchiaioli and the extensive Metafisica e Metafisiche exhibition, dedicated to the metaphysical school founded by Giorgio De Chirico and Alberto Savinio in 1915.

The Visions of the PAC and MUDEC.

At the PAC, after the just-opened solo show by Marcello Maloberti, contemporary art will take center stage with exhibitions dedicated to Shirin Neshat (Qazvin-Iran, 1957), who explores cultural and gender identities through photography and film, and the Italian-American duo Codagnone-Lovett. In the fall, a collective project will offer a glimpse of contemporary India, between technological innovation and traditions.

At MUDEC, three exhibition projects will combine art, history and anthropology. Shamanism and Contemporary Art will bring into dialogue ritual objects and works by artists such as Kandinsky, Pollock, Beuys and Marina Abramović, while Travelogue will analyze travel as a pivotal element of human history, recounting the dynamics of exploration, migration and diaspora that have shaped the modern world. An exhibition on Escher will close the year, relating his celebrated geometries to Islamic art, revealing surprising affinities.

Fabbrica del Vapore and Civic Museums: memory and experimentation

The Fabbrica del Vapore will host an exhibition dedicated to Pietro Consagra, exploring the sculptor’s entire creative process, from sketches to final works. The Civic Museums, on the other hand, will enrich the program with tributes to Pellizza da Volpedo (at GAM Galleria d’Arte Moderna) and a retrospective on the historic textile maison Galtrucco (at Palazzo Morando - Costume Moda Immagine), while Palazzo Moriggia - Museo del Risorgimento will offer an exhibition on the awarding of the Gold Medal for Military Valor to Milan, on the occasion of the 80th anniversary of the Liberation.

“This interweaving of past and future finds a deeply Milanese dimension in the city’s ability to welcome and transform global stimuli, making them an integral part of its identity,” said Milan Mayor Giuseppe Sala. “Milan confirms, once again, not only as the custodian of an extraordinary cultural memory, but also as an open laboratory, where art becomes a ground for confrontation and collective construction. In view of the Milan-Cortina 2026 Olympics and Paralympics, then, Milan is preparing an exceptional cultural season, which will also see in Sala delle Cariatidi at Palazzo Reale the exhibition of Anselm Kiefer.”

“With the presentation of these fifty exhibition projects, Milan consolidates its role as a cultural capital, capable of narrating the plurality of artistic expressions and being a crossroads for the languages of the past, present and future. It is an invitation to everyone, citizens and visitors alike, to immerse themselves in a journey that reflects the complexity of our time,” said Culture Councillor Tommaso Sacchi.

Find out the full program here.

Pictured: Felice Casorati, Raja, detail (1924-1925; tempera on panel, 120 x 100 cm; Venice, private collection) © Matteo De Fina

Milan announces a year full of exhibitions, and in 2026 Kiefer will also arrive at Palazzo Reale

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