La Spezia, CAMeC reopens Oct. 5: new layout and cultural program

The CAMeC - La Spezia Center for Modern and Contemporary Art will officially reopen its doors to the public on October 5, 2024 after an extensive maintenance and cultural restyling project . The renovation, the result of collaboration between the City of La Spezia and Fondazione Carispezia, aims to make the museum an even more dynamic and inclusive space, where modern and contemporary art becomes a means of dialogue and discovery for visitors of all ages.

The new arrangement of the permanent collection, curated by Professor Gerhard Wolf, director of the Kunsthistorisches Institut in Florence, is developed through an innovative exhibition itinerary, displaying more than 200 works. Visitors can explore artistic itineraries ranging from the second half of the 20th century to the present day, with forays into the past. Prominent among the works on display are works by Italian and international artists such as Lucio Fontana, Gordon Matta-Clark and Marina Abramović.

The installation breaks traditional chronological and stylistic conventions, proposing new combinations and dialogues between the works, while maintaining a clear conceptual orientation. La Spezia and its artistic history take center stage, with sections dedicated to the Il Gabbiano gallery and the Cozzani and Goretti donation, which have made CAMeC one of the most interesting museums on the Italian scene. “The design of the new CAMeC,” explained Gerhard Wolf, “is based on the concept of ’openness,’ which is not only about the opening of the museum, but takes on multiple and multifaceted meanings, both literally and metaphorically. From the opening of the large windows, previously walled up, that put the museum in dialogue with the city, to the paths opened by the new layout, which does not follow canonical cataloguing, but offers the public a fascinating and unpredictable artistic itinerary, traversed by a pivotal question: what do the works of the second half of the 20th century tell today? How do we want to tell a historical collection today?”

A special tribute is reserved for the Gulf Prize, with a selection of works by artists such as Carla Accardi, Renato Birolli and Emilio Vedova, who were awarded prizes from 1949 onward. The tribute to the city is further strengthened by an environment whose colors evoke Porto Venere’s famous palazzata.

The restyling project also involves the corridors of the ground and second floors, which are transformed into exhibition spaces with two new picture galleries: an experimental “atlas” of small- and medium-format works and a gallery of large works. Informative captions will be complemented by digital insights on the museum’s revamped website.

CAMeC is not stopping there. Starting in April 2025, temporary exhibitions and events curated by international curators will enrich the museum’s cultural offerings. Programming will be accompanied by a new graphic identity that will reflect the dynamic and contemporary character of the art center.

The reopening of the museum and its cultural revitalization are coordinated by a committee representing the City of La Spezia and Fondazione Carispezia, chaired by attorney Giacomo Bei.

La Spezia, CAMeC reopens Oct. 5: new layout and cultural program

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