Here are the new artistic initiatives at the end of August-beginning of September.
Art has never stopped emanating its charm. It is us who have needed to slow down to breathe among overseas blue, mountain peaks, lakes with crystal-clear waters. In the months of July and August, exhibitions and ambitious projects have not been lacking. We recall, in fact, the appointment in Arles with the 56th edition of Les Rencontres de la Photographie. From July 7th until October 5th, this year is dedicated to “disobedient images.” Now, with the approach of September, the program becomes packed again. Let’s see what awaits us.
Marseille, the Art-O-Rama fair returns at the end of August
After the new pop-up fair La Mer, inaugurated the first week of July at the hotel Les Bords de mer, Marseille returns with the wind in its sails. It’s time for the awaited Art-o-rama. The location is the beloved cultural center Friche la Belle de Mai, 45,000 m2 of total space with a skater track, artistic studios. It was the old Seita tobacco factory. On August 29, there will be the VIP preview with more than 60 participating galleries. Some noteworthy emerging galleries include Cable Depot from Sofia, Soup from London, Spiaggia Libera from Paris, SABOT from Cluj-Napoca (Romania), PAW from Karlsruhe, Giovanni’s Room from Los Angeles.
In the gallery selection committee, the Belgian collector Frédéric de Goldschmidt, the Bordeaux curator Cédric Fauq, gallery directors such as Marie Madec (sans titre, Paris), Haynes Riley (Good Weather, Chicago) Joana Roda (Bombon Projects, Barcelona), Sophie Tappeiner (eponymous gallery in Vienna).
In Bari, the exhibition festival Il Mattino ha Lory in bocca
In Bari, as every August now in its fourth edition, Il Mattino ha Lory in bocca. From August 24 to 31, 2025, the initiative curated by journalist and art critic Francesco Paolo Del Re. Francesco is the director of the exhibition space Casa Vuota (Rome) together with his partner artist Sabino Del Nichilo. Art overlooks from the balconies and grazes the streets of the Madonnella district, at the intersection of via Dalmazia and via Spalato. Sixty artists, 8 days of performances, recreational and workshop activities, activations.
The Biennale of São Paulo, the first week of September
The 36th Bienal de São Paulo will open on September 6 and will remain open until January 2026 inside the Bienal Pavilion. It will also extend outside. The title is Not All Travellers Walk Roads – Of Humanity as Practice. The Biennale also launches, during the 4 months of its duration, the public program “Coniugazioni”: a series of debates, meetings, performances, some of which are developed in collaboration with cultural institutions from various parts of the world. The project Apparitions is developed in collaboration with the WAVA platform and employs augmented reality. Thanks to this technology, fragments, extensions, and echoes of the works of the Bienal de São Paulo manifest in Ibirapuera Park and in locations around the globe chosen by the artists themselves: the banks of the Congo River, the border between Mexico and the USA, the urban parks of African and Asian cities.
The general curator Bonaventure Soh Bejeng Ndikung states: “Like the migratory birds that inspire our curatorial strategy, these actions cross territories, carrying and gathering meanings.” The vocation of the Bienal de São Paulo, born in 1962, is to exist as a space of connection that crosses continents.
September 6, 2025 – January 11, 2026
Ciccillo Matarazzo Pavilion
Ibirapuera Park · Gate 3 · São Paulo, SP
Free admission
Panorama Pozzuoli in mid-September
The fifth edition of the widespread exhibition conceived by ITALICS lands in Pozzuoli. This year the exhibition project is curated by Chiara Parisi, director of the Centre Pompidou Metz, from September 10 to 14, 2025. After Procida, Monopoli, L’Aquila, and Monferrato, Panorama awakens the Campanian village, within the Campi Flegrei. From the Flavian amphitheater, it moves to the public park of Villa Avellino with its terraced gardens, then the Cinema Sofia and some public and religious buildings will be involved.
The first BAAB contemporary art Biennale in Rome
The Biennale of contemporary art BAAB (Basement Art Assembly Biennial) will debut on September 10, 2025. Founded by Ilaria Marotta and Andrea Baccin, it will take place inside the space of Basement Roma. Basement is a “liminal and self-sustained exhibition space”, founded in 2012 by the independent magazine CURA. Beyond the boundaries of the space in the heart of Prati, other hotspots in the city have been outlined such as cinema, theater, public billboards. 25 artists from around the world will be involved. Among the artists are Cecilia Bengolea (1979, Argentina), Claudia Comte (1983, Switzerland), Jeremy Deller (1966, UK), Gina Fischli (1989, Switzerland), Carsten Höller (1961, Belgium), David Horvitz (1988, LA, USA).
The initiative was conceived by consulting an Advisory Board composed of prominent figures in the international cultural landscape Nicolas Bourriaud, Jean-Max Colard, Simon Denny, Anthony Huberman, and Lumi Tan.
She has collaborated for many years with art magazines such as Artribune, XIBT Contemporary, ArtApp, Insideart and Espoarte, preferring contemporary art in its many facets and media drifts.
