About – Una Boccata d'Arte

UNA BOCCATA D’ARTE IS AN INVITATION TO WORK TOGETHER: EVERY YEAR IT INVOLVES 20 ARTISTS OF DIFFERENT NATIONALITIES, 20 ITALIAN MUNICIPALITIES AND 20 REGIONAL CURATORS TO CREATE 20 CONTEMPORARY ART PROJECTS IN DIALOGUE WITH THE LOCAL AREA

Una Boccata
d'Arte

20
artists

20
villages

20
regions

Una Boccata d’Arte is promoted by Fondazione Elpis in collaboration with Galleria Continua and with the participation of Threes. Established in 2020 during the pandemic, the initiative aimed to give a strong signal of encouragement at a time of great uncertainty by promoting encounters between contemporary art practices and places far off the well-known tourist track.

A project by

Fondazione Elpis

Founded in 2020 by Marina Nissim, entrepreneur and collector, Fondazione Elpis is dedicated to supporting young artists through a wide-ranging programme of exhibitions, residencies, talks, workshops, performances, and projects that are rooted and spread across the Italian territory. With the aim of exploring areas and contexts beyond the traditional circuits of contemporary art, Fondazione Elpis fosters dialogue between seemingly distant worlds, capturing the evolving nature of expressive languages.The foundation is based in Milan, in a former industrial laundry in the Porta Romana district – now a space devoted to artistic experimentation and research, promoting new models of participation and engagement for diverse audiences.Its identity is closely linked to Una Boccata d’Arte, a nationwide project launched in 2020 in collaboration with Maurizio Rigillo of Galleria Continua and with the participation of Threes. Each year, the initiative involves 20 artists in the creation of site-specific projects in 20 Italian villages – one per region – developed through direct encounters with local communities and places, enhancing the cultural heritage of the territory.

In collaboration with

Galleria Continua

Galleria Continua was founded in 1990 through the initiative of three friends: Mario Cristiani, Lorenzo Fiaschi and Maurizio Rigillo. It is based in the spaces of a former cinema in the historic town of San Gimignano, and to date, it counts several locations worldwide. It was the first foreign gallery with an international program to open in Beijing, China, in 2004, and in 2007 in Les Moulins, in the Parisian countryside. In 2015, it opened a space in Havana, Cuba, dedicated to cultural projects aimed at overcoming all borders. In 2020, the year marking its thirtieth anniversary, it inaugurated a new exhibition venue in Rome with a program of educational activities and artist residencies, and a space in São Paulo, Brazil, within the Pacaembu stadium. In 2021, it opened a new gallery in Paris, in the heart of the Marais, and in the same year, an exhibition space within the world's most iconic hotel, the Burj Al Arab Jumeirah in Dubai. In 2024, GALLERIA CONTINUA opened a third French space in the heart of Matignon, the historic epicentre of the art market and a vibrant district in the west of Paris.

With the participation of

Threes

Threes is a creative agency based in Milan, specializing in experimental projects in the fields of music and art. As a multidisciplinary platform, Threes engages in event production, curation, publishing, and record label activities. Driven by research and a commitment to challenging cultural paradigms, all of Threes' projects embody an ecological vision. Since the inaugural edition of Una Boccata d'Arte, Threes has been selecting artists and overseeing the development of projects in three regions. For the 2025 edition, the selected regions are Emilia Romagna, Liguria, and Sardegna.