The Pecci Center of Prato presents the 2025 program: exhibitions and culture to build community

The cultural and artistic program for 2025 of the Luigi Pecci Center for Contemporary Art in Prato was presented. Present at the press conference were President Lorenzo Bini Smaghi, Prato Mayor Ilaria Bugetti, and General Director Stefano Collicelli Cagol, confirmed in his post for the three-year period 2025-2028. The theme chosen for next year is Building Community, a concept that translates into a busy calendar of exhibitions, events and initiatives designed to make the museum increasingly accessible and inclusive. The goal is to transform the Pecci Center into a place for meeting and sharing, capable of engaging diverse audiences and addressing issues of great social relevance.

“Building community means looking at everyone, regardless of age, target and taste,” says Mayor Ilaria Bugetti. “A contemporary art center must do this, it must open up to the territory, its realities and associations, including social ones. This space must be 360 degrees every day through art, workers, conferences, cinema and reviews dedicated to music and books. An approach that will allow us to enhance and improve the good results that have been coming since 2024 with an increasing number of visitors and a beautiful visibility in the world.”

“A Center for contemporary art that turns the focus on its audiences,” explains Stefano Collicelli Cagol, General Director of the Pecci Center in Prato, “each one characterized by its own specific needs, is something urgent in Italy. The chosen tool is that of accessibility: at the Pecci Center we are working to find different ways to approach contemporary art, to communicate it in an easy and clear way, looking for footholds in our narratives that allow everyone to engage with the work starting from their own experience and knowledge. We are equipping ourselves with new tools to increase our reach but also to make everyone who enters museum spaces feel comfortable. Never before have we needed gathering spaces where we can confront each other, get to know each other, brush against each other and be physically together; never before has art that speaks of the present been able to be a viaticum for orienting ourselves in understanding the world through its forms, its colors, and the contrasting emotions it is capable of arousing. With the collection, the archives, the library-which this year will reopen posing itself as a new gathering space open to the city, but also as a platform for national and international research-and then with the exhibitions, the cinema, the workshops for educational activities and special Art and Wellness projects, the restaurant, bistro, playground and outdoor arena, the Pecci Center caters to all those people who choose to enrich their daily lives through contact with the languages of contemporary arts.”

Exhibitions between gigantism, light and memory

Three exhibitions exploring different aspects of contemporary art will open May 30. SMISURED. XXL Works from the Pecci Center Collection will offer a selection of works characterized by imposing formats. The exhibition, designed by architect Ibrahim Kombarji in collaboration with the museum, celebrates the collection’s large-format works and their impact on the institution’s history. The installation in spaces designed by Italo Gamberini allows a dialogue between the needs of the works and those of accessibility, while also offering the opportunity to bring Mauro Staccioli’s 88, an iconic sculpture for the area, back to Prato. It continues with Davide Stucchi. Light Lights, curated by Stefano Collicelli Cagol, which will propose a reflection on the role of light in art and the perception of space. With Light Lights, Davide Stucchi transforms the spaces of the Ala Piccola Nio into an immersive experience made of light sculptures, testifying to the artist’s versatility between fashion, set design and advertising.

In parallel, the collection is enriched with The March of Man by Yervant Gianikian and Angela Ricci Lucchi, a video installation curated by Elena Magini that explores colonial representations of Africa through archival materials. First presented at the 2001 Venice Biennale, this work now permanently enters the museum’s holdings, thanks to PAC2024 - Plan for Contemporary Art, promoted by the Ministry of Culture’s General Directorate for Contemporary Creativity. Autumn will bring an exhibition project with a strong historical and social impact: Living. Art and Affects, HIV-AIDS in Italy. 1982-1996. Curated by Michele Bertolino, the exhibition will tell, through works and documents, the stories of those who lived through and witnessed the AIDS epidemic in our country, highlighting the role of art in the construction of a collective memory.

Cinema between homages and new looks

The Pecci Cinema Center’s film program will range between premieres and arthouse films, with a focus on the themes of 2025. Special reviews include a tribute to David Lynch, scheduled from Feb. 13 to March 20, and the fourth edition of Unique Pieces, dedicated to LGBT-themed cinema, which will be held from March 27 to April 17 in collaboration with the L’Asterisco Arcigay Prato and Pistoia Association. On March 20, film critic Roy Menarini will be a guest at the Pecci Center for a special meeting that will explore the language and impact of Lynch’s work.

Literature and current events: the role of Pecci Books.

The world of literature will also play a central role with Reading the Present, a series of meetings with authors on topical issues. On March 1, the volume This Work Is Not Life will be discussed. The Class Struggle in the 21st Century - The GKN Case, with authors Dario Salvetti and Gea Scancarello in dialogue with Simone Innocenti.

Among the events, April 10 will feature The Moving Image. Film and Works 1966-2019 by Andrea Granchi, while April 12 will feature Giuliano Turone with the book Crimini inconfessabili. Il ventennio dell’Antistato che ha voluto e coperto le stragi (1973-1993). The calendar will conclude with the fourth edition of the Centro Pecci Books Festival, scheduled for Nov. 6-8.

Education and inclusion: art as a social tool

One of the most innovative aspects of the programming concerns educational and social activities. The Pecci Center’s Education Department will continue to work with schools of all levels, with projects such as Prato Comunità Educante to combat school dropout and Primi Mille Giorni d’arte al Centro Pecci, dedicated to the youngest children and their families.

The focus on mental well-being will translate into initiatives aimed at people with neurodegenerative diseases. Every Thursday morning there will be laboratories and workshops for people with Parkinson’s disease and their caregivers, in collaboration with the Fresco Parkinson Institute. Every Friday, on the other hand, will be devoted to expressive workshops for mental health, while every other week art trails for pregnant women will be offered.

A living museum: evening events and new experiences

The Pecci Center will be an increasingly dynamic and accessible place even beyond its traditional opening hours. In fact, Centro Pecci Night, the monthly event that allows visitors to explore the museum until midnight among workshops, performances and meetings, is back. On March 14, Farida Amadou and Vincent Giampino will perform, while on April 11 the public can enjoy a performance by Katerina Andreou and Limpe Fuchs, as well as the presentation of a book on David Wojnarowicz.

The project What if I went inside? will offer an immersive experience between art, music and experimentation, with the involvement of Kinkaleri, Nub and OOH-sounds.

The Pecci Center of Prato presents the 2025 program: exhibitions and culture to build community

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