The directors of the Fondazione Torino Musei have named the curator and art historian Ilaria Bonacossa the director of the next three editions of Artissima, the leading Italian contemporary art fair based in Turin. She is no stranger to the northern Italian city, having served as the curator at the Fondazione Sandretto Re Rebaudengo from 2002 to 2009.
Bonacossa succeeds Sarah Cosulich, who has been at the helm of the art fair for the past five years. Cosulich’s initial three-year term was extended by two further editions. Because the fair is partly funded by the state, it requires a public competition for new directors. Cosulich described leading Artissima as “a precious opportunity and a great challenge”. She added: “I present back to the city a healthy and strong project both commercially and artistically, a fair with a unique experimental and curatorial identity, which has become one of the most respected international events.”
Bonacossa takes up her new role at Artissima having served as the artistic director of the Public Museum for Contemporary Art Villa Croce in Genova since 2012. She has also been a member on the technical committee for acquisitions of Frac Provence-Alpes-Côte d’Azur of Marseilles and the scientific committee of Pac Milano.
Describing her new post as “an exciting challenge”, Bonacossa says she has not missed a single edition of Artissima since it began in 2002. “I believe that the quality of the fair’s cultural offer is undeniable. The strength and the international excellence of Turin’s cultural institutions make Artissima an exceptional opportunity for Italian contemporary art,” she says, adding: “I am happy to return to Turin: a city that I love and where I lived for almost ten years.”
