Discover Italy’s Contemporary Art Exhibitions
As spring reaches its full bloom, May 2025 unveils a vibrant calendar of art exhibitions across Italy. From Milan to Rome, from Bologna to Nuoro, museums and galleries are hosting an extraordinary lineup of contemporary and historical shows that engage with memory, activism, scale, and transformation. Whether you’re a dedicated art lover, a cultural traveler, or a gallery curator seeking inspiration, here’s a curated guide to the most compelling art exhibitions this May—each one a journey into the evolving world of artists, artworks, and ideas.
Chiara Dynys – Once Again | Palazzo Citterio, Milan
From May 8 to September 7, Chiara Dynys takes over the underground Stirling Room of Milan’s Palazzo Citterio with Once Again, a large-scale site-specific installation curated by Anna Bernardini. Inspired by 17th-century baroque theaters, the piece features three massive rotating scenic rolls mimicking ocean waves. Accompanied by a hypnotic mechanical soundscape, this immersive artwork explores the sea as a metaphor for memory, change, and journey.
Mario Giacomelli – The Photographer and the Poet | Palazzo Reale, Milan
In celebration of his centenary, Palazzo Reale hosts a landmark retrospective on Mario Giacomelli from May 22 to September 7. Curated by Bartolomeo Pietromarchi and Katiuscia Biondi Giacomelli, the exhibition features more than 300 original photographs and archival documents. Giacomelli’s unique ability to blend photography, poetry, and painting offers a deeply emotional and intellectual experience.
Mario Giacomelli, Io non ho mani che mi accarezzino il volto, 1961 -63, © Archivio Mario Giacomelli
From Chaos to Cosmos | Palazzo Te, Mantua
Running until June 29, From Chaos to Cosmos celebrates the 500th anniversary of Palazzo Te with a thought-provoking art exhibition on metamorphosis. Curated by Claudia Cieri Via, the show stages a dialogue between the palace’s Renaissance frescoes and masterpieces by Tintoretto, Correggio, Penone, Rubens, and Poussin. The exhibition highlights the timeless narrative of transformation through visual arts.
Dal caos al cosmo. Metamorfosi a Palazzo Te
World Press Photo 2025 | Palazzo delle Esposizioni, Rome
From May 6 to June 8, the World Press Photo Exhibition lands in Rome, showcasing the year’s most powerful and moving photojournalism. Featuring over 59,000 entries from nearly 4,000 photographers across 141 countries, this exhibition offers a window into global reality through compelling photographic artworks.
Droughts in the Amazon © Musuk Nolte, Panos Pictures, Bertha Foundation
Dove non sono mai stato, là sono
Fondazione Elpis, Milan
From May 8 to July 6, Fondazione Elpis celebrates five years of Una Boccata d’Arte with a group show featuring over 100 contemporary artists who brought art to small Italian villages. The exhibition brings together diverse artworks that explore the relationship between territory, memory, and creative intervention.
Simone Bacco, Maratona, Spinazzola (BT), Puglia.
Courtesy: Fondazione Elpis. Foto: Christian Mantuano
Cremona Contemporanea | Art Week 2025
From May 24 to June 2, Cremona becomes a contemporary art laboratory, hosting the third edition of Art Week. Directed by Rossella Farinotti, this event presents a citywide program of installations, exhibitions, and talks that activate public and historical spaces with new artistic visions.
Inequalities / 24th Triennale Milano
International Exhibition
From May 13 to November 9, the Triennale Milano presents Inequalities, an ambitious exhibition that investigates global disparities through art, design, architecture, and science. The show is structured around geopolitical and biopolitical axes, and is the final chapter in a trilogy that began with Broken Nature (2019) and Unknown Unknowns (2022).
Foto di Johnny Miller/Unequal Scenes
Rebecca Horn – Cutting Through the Past
Castello di Rivoli, Turin
Starting May 23, Rebecca Horn is honored with her first retrospective in a public Italian museum at the Castello di Rivoli. Co-curated with the Haus der Kunst in Munich, this career-spanning exhibition showcases her dynamic practice that fuses sculpture, performance, and poetic mechanics.
Dorothea Lange | Museo Diocesano, Milan
From May 13, the Museo Diocesano dedicates a major retrospective to Dorothea Lange, one of the most important documentary photographers of the 20th century. Over 100 historic photographs capture themes of migration, hardship, and resilience in American society.
Dorothea Lange, Migrant mother – Nipomo, California.
1936 – The New York Public Library
Library of Congress Prints and Photographs Division Washington
Louise Nevelson | Palazzo Fava, Bologna
From May 30 to July 20, Palazzo Fava presents the iconic sculptural environments of Louise Nevelson. Known for her monumental monochrome wood assemblages, Nevelson’s work challenges traditional boundaries of sculpture and feminism in modern art history.
Louise Nevelson, Studio Marconi, Milan, 1973. © Enrico Cattaneo
Davide Stucchi, Lights lights
Centro Pecci, Prato
Three Parallel Exhibitions
This May, Centro Pecci launches three bold contemporary art projects:
- Smisurata, featuring large-scale artworks from the permanent collection;
- Light Lights by Davide Stucchi, exploring light, minimalism, and sensuality;
- The March of Man by Yervant Gianikian and Angela Ricci Lucchi, confronting memory, war, and displacement through archival films.
MAXXI Rome – Spring/Summer Showcase
The MAXXI museum in Rome offers an exceptional mix of exhibitions, including:
- Mediterranea, exploring the Mediterranean as a cultural crossroad;
- Douglas Gordon’s career-spanning video art show;
- Nacho Carbonell’s tactile installations on memory;
- Stadiums: Architecture and Myth, blending sport and design;
- A tribute to the Galleria Pieroni (1970–1990);
- Classicism and Modernity at the Foro Italico, revisiting architectural ideologies.
Dan Graham, Dora Stiefelmeier. Centro Archivi MAXXI Arte, Fondo Galleria Pieroni. Foto Carlo Cantini.
Festival of Foreign Academies | MACRO, Rome
From May 27, the MACRO hosts the annual Festival of Foreign Academies and Cultural Institutes in Rome. Featuring exhibitions, performances, and artist talks, the festival celebrates emerging international artists and creative residencies shaping tomorrow’s art scene.
Nathalie Du Pasquier
Volare, guardare, costruire
Museo Nivola, Nuoro
In Sardinia, starting May 17, the Museo Nivola hosts a site-specific show by Nathalie Du Pasquier. Blending architecture, painting, and design, the exhibition creates immersive, pattern-rich environments that highlight the fluidity between form and function in contemporary art.
Nathalie Du Pasquier, Untitled, olio su carta montato su tela, 1998-99, 167 x 141 cm
The Spanish Steps, Revisited
Keats-Shelley House, Rome
Until November 1, the Keats-Shelley House honors the 300th anniversary of Rome’s Spanish Steps with a multidisciplinary show. Featuring artworks, photographs, and installations, it explores the cultural memory of one of the city’s most iconic landmarks.
Elisabetta Benassi, 327 Steps, 2025
Resisting Oblivion | MAMbo, Bologna
Finally, MAMbo presents Resisting Oblivion from May 30—a moving exhibition that delves into feminist and queer archives in Bologna. Through videos, photographs, and documents, the show brings activist histories into the contemporary spotlight.
Whether you’re captivated by monumental installations, social photography, or experimental video art, Italy’s art galleries and museums offer a cultural feast this May. These exhibitions are not just displays of artworks but spaces for reflection, dialogue, and discovery—perfect for both local visitors and international art lovers.