VALLE D’AOSTA IT LAUNCHES THE “PREMIO ARTE CONTEMPORANEA”: A NEW BIENNIAL INITIATIVE DEDICATED TO ARTISTIC RESEARCH
The Autonomous Region of Valle d’Aosta IT is strengthening its commitment to contemporary artistic research with the launch of the Premio Arte Contemporanea Valle d’Aosta (Aosta Valley Contemporary Art Prize), a new invitation-only biennial initiative promoted by the Museum of Modern and Contemporary Art at Castello Gamba in collaboration with the Associazione Forte di Bard. The prize aims to foster dialogue between contemporary art, the Alpine landscape, and local communities, reaffirming the region’s role as a place for cultural production and artistic experimentation.
The initiative forms part of the ongoing renewal of Castello Gamba in Châtillon, home to the region’s modern and contemporary art collections, which is expanding its role as a centre for research, critical exchange, and the production of new artistic projects. The prize also reconnects with Aosta Valley’s long-standing commitment to the visual arts, building on the legacy of the historic Gran Premio Saint-Vincent per la Letteratura e le Arti Figurative (Saint-Vincent Grand Prize for Literature and Visual Arts), which laid the foundations for today’s regional art collection.
The scientific committee is chaired by Gianfranco Maraniello, Director of the Modern and Contemporary Art Museums of the City of Milan, and brings together leading figures from the Italian contemporary art scene: Martina Angelotti, Marcella Beccaria, Alessandro Castiglioni, Davide Dall’Ombra, Luigi Fassi, and Bernardo Follini. In addition to selecting the participating artists, the committee has carried out extensive research and site visits across the region to assess its artistic landscape and identify new opportunities for future cultural development.
Six invited artists will be selected for the inaugural edition, each receiving a project grant to support the research and development phase. Following a period of fieldwork throughout the region, they will develop original proposals engaging with the history, landscape, and communities of Valle d’Aosta. The projects will address key contemporary issues including the environment, sustainability, climate change, the relationship between people and nature, and the transformation of Alpine landscapes.
The theme of the first edition, “Paesaggio, tra contemplazione e risorsa” (Landscape: Between Contemplation and Resource), was proposed by Davide Dall’Ombra of Casa Testori, who collaborated with the Museum of Castello Gamba in developing the prize and drafting its regulations. The theme invites artists to expand the notion of landscape beyond its natural dimension, embracing also the human-shaped environment as a lived space marked by transformation, fragility, and contradiction.
Following the research and production phase, the six projects will be presented publicly, and in autumn 2026 the winning work will be announced. The selected artwork will be acquired by the Autonomous Region of Valle d’Aosta and become part of its permanent contemporary art collection.
With the launch of the Premio Arte Contemporanea Valle d’Aosta, the region further strengthens its long-term cultural strategy, positioning contemporary art as a catalyst for research, artistic production, and territorial development while fostering new connections between heritage, landscape, artists, and local communities.
