The city of Maddaloni has officially opened the first edition of AMA – Art + Maddaloni + Architecture, an Arts Biennale that merges contemporary art, design, and architecture to spark urban and cultural regeneration. Inaugurated on Friday, March 28 at the historic “G. Bruno” National Boarding School, the event runs through April 21, 2025, transforming the town into a vast open-air cultural stage.
This ambitious project is curated by architect and professor Luca Molinari, promoted by the Municipality of Maddaloni, and supported by the Campania Region and Regional Council. The inaugural edition features over 80 artists, architects, and designers, including 30 from Campania, 12 collectives, and 15 international studios from across Europe, Latin America, and the Middle East.
The theme of AMA 2025, “New Narratives (for the Future)”, is a call to reimagine inclusive and visionary futures for the city by bridging memory and innovation.
The main exhibition is hosted in the monumental Convitto Nazionale “Giordano Bruno”, beneath the vast baroque vault that holds the world’s largest suspended canvas. The exhibition – curated by Simona Ottieri and Concetta Tavoletta – presents works by around seventy artists, featuring drawings, models, photographs, and installations that explore design as a tool for social and territorial transformation.
In the courtyard, the site-specific installation “In stato di grazia” by landscape architect Annalisa Metta and philosopher Felice Cimatti suspends a constellation of golden figures in the air, evoking symbolic ex-votos.
The Civic Museum of Maddaloni hosts two parallel exhibitions: “New Narratives. When the Ancient Meets the Present”, where contemporary works are displayed alongside historical collections; “Veiled Maddaloni” by photographer Pasquale Carangelo, offering an intimate and poetic view of the local landscape.
The Church of Santa Maria dei Comandati houses “New Narratives (for Saint Michael and the Entire Sky!)”, a site-specific project reflecting on art, spirituality, and urban memory, with original works by Teresa Antignani, Fabrizio Vatieri, Roberto Amoroso, and Roberto di Alicudi.
Later on opening day, the musical performance “Vela Celeste” was staged, inspired by the symbolic collapse of the “Vela Celeste” housing structure in Scampia (Naples) in 2024.
The exhibition extends throughout Maddaloni’s historic center: Video installations by Francesco Jodice and Adrian Paci are on view in the Church of San Giovanni and the Hypogeal Chapel, exploring forgotten beauty. On the steps of San Pietro Church, Cherubino Gambardella has created “Sitting Under a Golden Frame”, an open invitation to rest and gather. On the facade of the new City Hall, the mural “Senza Riparo” by Francisco Bosoletti depicts the face of a woman inspired by ancient artifacts — a symbol of a future yet to come.
AMA also brings long-term impact: each edition will leave behind a permanent public artwork, along with informative materials and modular exhibition structures developed with the Department of Architecture and Industrial Design at the University of Campania “Luigi Vanvitelli.”
The Biennale draws inspiration from Maddaloni’s artistic legacy, particularly the International Biennale of Graphic Artheld in 1985 and 1988. It reaffirms the city’s civic and creative spirit, honoring figures like Franco Imposimato, and standing strong behind the message: “Art is against all mafias.”
With AMA, Maddaloni positions itself as a new cultural hub in Southern Italy, a place where art becomes a concrete force for awareness, beauty, and collective rebirth. AMA is not just a biennale – it’s a vision.
For more info: www.amamaddaloni.it
