11 October - 18 January 2026
The exhibition proposes contemporary art not as representation, but as a form of cognitive experimentation. Foregrounding imagination, Fantastica reaffirms the role of art as a space where alternative realities can be conceived. This dimension is particularly significant in a historical moment characterized by a widespread crisis of imagination.
Palazzo Esposizioni Roma, via Nazionale 194
Fantastica, the 18th Quadriennale d’artepositions itself as one of the most intellectually ambitious institutional exhibitions devoted to contemporary Italian art in recent decades. Conceived and promoted by the Fondazione La Quadriennale di Roma, the project reaffirms the historical mission of the Quadriennale as a interpretative apparatus rather than a celebratory panorama.
The curatorial premise of Fantastica resists the notion of the exhibition as a mirror of the present. A space where artistic research is mobilized to question the conditions under which reality itself is constructed and perceived. The fantastic, in this context, does not function as a genre or stylistic category, but as a critical method—one that enables artists to navigate the unstable threshold between what is visible and what remains latent, between historical memory and speculative projection.
The exhibition is articulated into five chapters, each shaped by the distinct curatorial perspectives of Luca Massimo Barbero, Francesco Bonami, Emanuela Mazzonis di Pralafera, Francesco Stocchi, and Alessandra Troncone. Bringing together 54 living artists—many of whom are participating in the Quadriennale for the first time—the project presents a substantial body of works, including a significant number of site-specific productions conceived in dialogue with the exhibition spaces.
The title “Fantastica” encapsulates the conceptual core of the exhibition. Far from invoking fantasy as escapism or decorative imagination, the exhibition reclaims the fantastic as a mode of thought deeply rooted in epistemological inquiry. The fantastic emerges here as a destabilizing force, capable of interrupting dominant narratives and exposing the constructed nature of reality. It operates in the interstitial zone between rational knowledge and imaginative speculation, where meaning is neither fixed nor fully determined.
Within Fantastica, the fantastic functions as an conceptual device through which artists articulate interpretative responses to contemporary conditions. The works presented do not seek to illustrate reality, but to interrogate the frameworks that render reality intelligible. Through fictional scenarios, altered temporalities, and symbolic transformations, artists reveal how perception is shaped by ideological structures, technological mediation, and cultural memory.
This approach situates the exhibition within a broader intellectual lineage that includes theories of the imaginary, speculative fiction, and contextual fabulation. The fantastic becomes a means of knowledge production, capable of addressing phenomena that resist empirical representation, such as systemic violence, ecological collapse, and the abstraction of power. In this sense, imagination is not opposed to rationality but operates as a complementary form of critical reasoning.
The exhibition foregrounds imagination as an active force that challenges the limits of conventional knowledge. By mobilizing imaginative constructs, artists engage with the present obliquely, producing forms of insight that would remain inaccessible through purely documentary or realist approaches. This strategy allows for a reconfiguration of the relationship between art and truth, shifting the focus from accuracy to relevance, from depiction to interpretation.
Many of the works in Fantastica draw upon fictional narratives, mythological archetypes, or reconfigured historical episodes. These narrative structures function as frameworks through which artists explore questions of identity, power, and memory. Myth, in particular, operates as a temporal device that collapses past, present, and future into a single symbolic field, enabling artists to address contemporary issues through transhistorical forms.
The use of fiction within the exhibition does not imply detachment from reality. On the contrary, fictional narratives often reveal deeper truths about social structures and collective imaginaries. By constructing alternative worlds or speculative futures, artists expose the contingency of existing systems and open space for critical reflection.
Fantastica presents a wide spectrum of artistic practices that reflect the complexity of contemporary Italian art. The exhibition deliberately avoids medium-based classification, emphasizing instead methodological affinities and conceptual trajectories. Painting, sculpture, installation, video, sound, and performative practices coexist within a fluid curatorial framework that mirrors the hybrid nature of current artistic research.
A defining characteristic of the exhibition is its refusal of rigid generational categorization. Established artists with decades of experience are presented alongside emerging practitioners, not as representatives of distinct historical phases, but as participants in a shared discursive field. This curatorial strategy underscores the persistence of certain critical concerns—such as the construction of subjectivity, the politics of representation, and the impact of technological systems—across different generations.
The intergenerational dialogue fostered by Fantastica challenges linear models of art history that privilege succession and rupture. Instead, the exhibition reveals a network of continuities, returns, and reinterpretations, where artistic practices are understood as evolving responses to recurring questions rather than as isolated innovations.
While some artists demonstrate a clear engagement with historical avant-gardes or post-war artistic traditions, others enact deliberate ruptures through experimental methodologies and speculative approaches. The coexistence of these positions generates a productive tension that reflects the heterogeneity of contemporary artistic production. Rather than resolving this tension, the exhibition foregrounds it as a constitutive condition of the present.
The relationship between materiality and technology occupies a central position within Fantastica. Many works explore how digital processes transform physical matter, or how virtual experiences are re-materialized within exhibition space. This dialectic reflects a broader shift in contemporary art, where technology is not merely a tool but a structuring condition that shapes perception, production, and distribution.
Artists engage critically with digital cultures, algorithmic systems, and networked environments, often revealing their ideological underpinnings. At the same time, a renewed attention to material processes—such as craft, manual labor, and physical presence—emerges as a counterpoint to digital abstraction.
Sound installations, immersive environments, and performative gestures expand the sensory dimension of the exhibition. These practices challenge the primacy of the visual and invite viewers to engage with art as a temporal and embodied experience. The exhibition thus foregrounds the role of the body as a site of perception and knowledge, complicating the traditional separation between observer and artwork.
The architectural structure of Palazzo Esposizioni plays an active role in shaping the exhibition’s revisionist discourse. Rather than functioning as a neutral container, the building becomes an integral component of the curatorial strategy. The exhibition unfolds across multiple levels, using the monumental scale of the space to articulate a complex rhythm of encounter and reflection.
The exhibition path is conceived as a sequence of spatial situations rather than a linear itinerary. Visitors move through zones of visual density and areas of spatial suspension, creating a rhythm that encourages slow, attentive engagement. This spatial choreography mirrors the conceptual structure of the exhibition, which privileges multiplicity and open-ended interpretation over didactic clarity.
The absence of a single narrative trajectory allows viewers to construct their own interpretative paths, engaging with the works through association and resonance. This approach reflects a broader shift in curatorial practice, where meaning is understood as relational and contingent rather than fixed.
Instead of clearly demarcated thematic sections, the exhibition is organized through constellations of works that resonate across formal and conceptual dimensions. These constellations create dialogues that cut across media, generations, and aesthetic positions, fostering unexpected connections and interpretative possibilities.
Several artists have developed works specifically for the spaces of Palazzo Esposizioni. These site-specific interventions engage directly with the architectural and historical context of the venue, activating the building as a discursive space. By responding to its scale, materials, and institutional history, the works foreground the relationship between contemporary art and its modes of display.
The interaction between artworks and architecture dissolves the boundary between container and content. Walls, ceilings, and transitional spaces become active elements in the production of meaning, reinforcing the exhibition’s methodological ambition. Architecture is thus transformed from a backdrop into a medium through which artistic and curatorial ideas are articulated.
Fantastica asserts its relevance not through claims of representativeness, but through its capacity to articulate complexity. In a cultural landscape increasingly driven by immediacy and simplification, the exhibition insists on the value of critical opacity and interpretative effort. It invites viewers to engage with uncertainty as a productive condition rather than a problem to be resolved.
The exhibition functions as an observatory that reveals how contemporary artists respond to social fragmentation, ecological crisis, and technological transformation. Through speculative narratives and symbolic constructs, the works articulate forms of resistance to dominant paradigms and propose alternative ways of imagining the future.
By foregrounding imagination as a critical force, Fantastica reaffirms the role of art as a space where new forms of thought can emerge. The exhibition positions artistic practice as a speculative activity capable of addressing the limits of existing knowledge and envisioning other possible worlds.
As the 18th Quadriennale d’arte, Fantastica confirms the enduring relevance of large-scale institutional exhibitions as platforms for critical discourse. Its rigorous curatorial framework and intellectual ambition reinforce the Quadriennale’s role as a key reference point for understanding the evolving landscape of Italian contemporary art.
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