ACCADE LENTAMENTE
The 4th Contemporary Art Exchange Exhibition in Italy
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Livorno | Galleria d’Arte Fidanda
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23–29 January 2027
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Deadline: 9 January 2027
Organised by Associazione Nazionale di Belle Arti d’Italia (ANBAI), ISOLART ART CENTER and Associazione NOMYA.
Accade lentamente — “It happens slowly” — invites artists to consider how an artwork takes shape over time, and how its meaning can change through sustained attention. A repeated gesture, a gradual alteration, or a detail noticed only on a second viewing can become the centre of a work.
The 4th Contemporary Art Exchange Exhibition in Italy brings together artists from different cultural backgrounds and artistic practices. Through a physical exhibition in Livorno, the project offers a space for artistic presentation and exchange between artists, audiences and cultural contexts.
Artists working across contemporary visual media are invited to apply. Submissions will be considered for their artistic quality, their relationship to the theme and their suitability for presentation at Galleria d’Arte Fidanda.
Exhibition opportunities
Selected artists will be included in the official exhibition programme of Accade lentamente. Participation may include:
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Physical exhibition in Italy — Selected works will be presented at Galleria d’Arte Fidanda according to the curatorial and installation plan.
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Official exhibition certificate — Each selected artist will receive a certificate issued by the organisers.
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Digital catalogue — Selected artists and artworks may be included in the exhibition’s official digital catalogue.
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Online visibility — Selected works may be featured through the exhibition’s official online channels.
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Opening reception — Selected artists will be invited to attend the opening and related exhibition events.
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Awards and recognition — Artists may be considered for official awards through the curatorial and jury evaluation process.
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Media and communication support — The exhibition will be promoted through its website, social media and related communication materials.
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Artwork sales collaboration — Where applicable, the organisers may support enquiries and sales communication for selected works.
Application Requirements
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Submit up to 3 standout pieces, together with an artist statement and a short biography.
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Please note that not all submissions will receive written reviews. Our critics will select the works that resonate with them.
Artwork Size Limit
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All artworks must be no larger than 1 m × 1 m.
Open Call Submission Fees (non-refundable):
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€35 for 1 artwork
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€45 for 2 artworks
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€55 for 3 artworks
Livorno & Venezia Nuova
The exhibition venue for Accade lentamente is located at Via della Venezia 7, in Venezia Nuova, one of Livorno’s most distinctive historic districts. Developed between 1629 and 1645 as the city grew into a Mediterranean port, the quarter was built around a network of canals known as the Fossi. These waterways connected merchants’ residences and warehouses with the harbour, carrying goods through the neighbourhood. Parts of Venezia Nuova rose from land once covered by water; workers and construction techniques from the Venetian lagoon helped shape the district and gave it its name. Its bridges, canal-side steps, former cellars and historic buildings still bear traces of the lives that unfolded here.
Historic brickwork in Livorno’s Venezia Nuova district
Livorno’s cultural identity was shaped by this movement of people and ideas. As a Medici-era free port, the city attracted merchants and communities from different countries and traditions. Exchange was therefore part of its everyday life long before it became a subject for contemporary art. Livorno also developed a rich artistic history: Giovanni Fattori and the Macchiaioli helped transform Italian painting, while later artists associated with the city, including Amedeo Modigliani, contributed to its modern visual culture. The exhibition’s setting brings these histories of commerce, encounter and artistic experimentation into the present.
Canal and bridge in Venezia Nuova, Livorno
Accade lentamente — The 4th Contemporary Art Exchange Exhibition in Italy extends a programme that has brought artists and audiences from different cultural backgrounds into dialogue. Earlier editions explored the traces of time through light and dust in TYNDALL, and the spaces between identity, memory and expression in Nel Mezzo. Alongside this series, projects such as Soglie dell’Invisibile reflect ISOLART’s wider commitment to artistic exchange across borders.
Eugenio Cecconi, Cenciaiole livornesi (1880), Museo Civico Giovanni Fattori, Livorno
Moving the fourth edition from Florence to Livorno opens a new chapter for that dialogue. In Accade lentamente, change is understood as something that gathers force over time: through repeated gestures, shifting perceptions, remembered places and encounters between cultures. Venezia Nuova offers a setting in which that idea can be felt as well as considered. Its layered history invites artists and visitors to look closely at what develops gradually, and at the connections that become visible only when we give them time.
The exhibition will take place at Fidanda’s exhibition venue at Via della Venezia 7, Livorno. Founded in 2023, Fidanda presents modern and contemporary art through solo and group exhibitions, with a particular interest in artistic practice connected to Tuscany. Its programme also creates opportunities for artists and audiences to meet and exchange ideas.
The Via della Venezia space is distinguished by its vaulted interior and adaptable display areas. These architectural features offer different ways to encounter a work: from a wider view of the exhibition to a closer, more attentive experience. For Accade lentamente, the venue becomes a place where artworks from different cultural contexts can enter into dialogue, and where visitors are invited to give each work—and the connections between them—time to emerge.
la Galleria Fidanda
Artistic Directions
Accade lentamente invites artists to consider how time becomes visible in materials, bodies, memories and places. A work might follow a process of growth or erosion, return to an everyday gesture, revisit a personal archive, or observe a change that is easy to miss as it happens.
The theme does not prescribe a visual style. Painting, photography, sculpture, installation, video and interdisciplinary practices can each offer a distinct way of approaching duration and transformation. We are interested in works that hold a clear artistic position while opening a conversation with other perspectives and cultural experiences.
la Galleria Fidanda
la Galleria Fidanda
la Galleria Fidanda
la Galleria Fidanda
la Galleria Fidanda
Toscana TV Coverage of a Previous Exhibition
A Previous Exhibition Featured on a Times Square Screen, New York
Highlights from Previous Exhibitions
On-site view of the 15th Florence Biennale Awards Ceremony
The Florence Biennale, founded in 1997, is recognized as one of Italy’s three major art events, alongside the Venice Biennale and the Milan Triennale. As an official partner of the 15th Florence Biennale (The Sublime Essence of Light and Darkness), ISOLART curated an independent curatorial unit within the main exhibition hall of the Fortezza da Basso, presenting an immersive artistic scenario in which sculpture, painting, photography, and other media resonated and converged through the works of six significant artists from China and abroad. Half of the participating artists received major official Biennale awards, including the “Lorenzo il Magnifico” and “Leonardo da Vinci” prize series, and the project was further honored to win the “Lorenzo il Magnifico Gold Medal for Sculpture” (first prize in the sculpture section).
Coverage of previous editions by leading international art magazines
As one of the most influential contemporary art publishing platforms worldwide, Flash Art has long followed and supported the Florence International Annual Art Exhibition. Since the inaugural edition, the exhibition has attracted broad attention and discussion. It has not only drawn active participation from artists around the world, but has also received strong recognition from leading authoritative art publications internationally. FLASH ART has produced in-depth feature coverage for each edition, publishing dedicated articles that establish a professional communication channel for global audiences—helping participating artists build verifiable international visibility assets.