With Nicola Ricciardi ending his tenure as miart’s artistic director, the baton has been passed to Cloe Piccoli for the 2027 to 2029 term. Her curatorial successes, links to brands and business and a strong history of critical writing make her appear the complete package to carry the fair forward. What shape this future fair will take remains to be seen, though her curatorial work across art, architecture and design suggests miart, already beautiful, might see some surprising changes.
Miart Artistic Director Press Notes:
Milano, 22 July 2026 – Fiera Milano announces the appointment of Cloe Piccoli as Artistic Director of miart for the 2027–2029 term.
Cloe Piccoli is a contemporary art critic, curator and lecturer. Over the course of her career, she has worked with leading public and private cultural organisations in Italy and internationally, conceiving exhibitions, commissioning artistic productions and developing cultural programmes. Her practice operates across the contemporary art landscape, engaging with institutions, businesses, the media, and the fields of criticism and academia. Her curatorial approach is informed by a critical methodology that brings together art, architecture and design, combining intellectual rigour with proven expertise in project development, management and communication.
The appointment forms part of Fiera Milano’s path of development for miart, accompanying the fair’s evolution by drawing on the wealth of relationships, expertise and credibility built over time together with galleries, collectors, institutions, partners and all those who play a role within the contemporary art ecosystem.
“Cloe Piccoli’s appointment represents a strategic choice that reflects Fiera Milano’s repositioning journey,” said Francesco Conci, Chief Executive Officer and General Manager of Fiera Milano. “Our ambition is to invest in miart not only as an established fair for contemporary art, but as a platform capable of creating lasting cultural, relational and reputational value throughout the year. We believe that today a fair must be more than a single event: it should foster meaningful connections, generate content, and play an active role in strengthening the cultural ecosystems in which it operates. Within this vision, miart becomes one of the projects through which we strengthen Fiera Milano’s brand equity and international positioning, while at the same time contributing to enhancing Milan’s role as a European capital of creativity, innovation and culture.”
“I am grateful to Fiera Milano for its confidence in me and delighted to take on the role of Artistic Director of miart, one of the most compelling international art fairs. Thanks to the work of those who have guided the fair before me, miart is now ready to direct its potential towards new challenges,” said Cloe Piccoli. “I see miart as a platform that brings together artistic production, cultural capital and economic value. The aim is to create an inclusive platform that brings together culture and the market, catalysing energies to enhance miart’s identity in dialogue with the city of Milan and its international outlook. I will work to build a network capable of activating new cultural projects and new relationships between the public and private sectors. Together with Fiera Milano, we will expand our relationships with galleries, artists, curators, collectors, museums, foundations, companies and stakeholders who, like miart, view culture as a driver for regeneration.”
Cloe Piccoli Biography
Cloe Piccoli is a lecturer in Contemporary Art at the Brera Academy of Fine Arts in Milan. A contributor to la Repubblica, Robinson, d, U, Door and Il Giornale dell’Arte, she writes extensively on contemporary art, architecture and design. As a curator, she has developed exhibitions and cultural projects for leading Italian and international institutions, including the Italian Ministry of Culture (MIC), MAXXI in Rome, Museo del Novecento in Milan, Triennale Milano, PS1/MoMA in New York, ICA Milano Foundation, Fondazione Querini Stampalia in Venice, Centre Pompidou Metz, Sosa Gallery and Manchester University. She has conceived and led major cultural initiatives for international luxury brands. These include Christian Dior, for which she created the Christian Dior Art Award, and Acqua di Parma, where she served as Artistic Director for the brand’s contemporary art projects. For Rinascente (Central Group/Chirathivat), she curated a series of site-specific commissions for the department store’s landmark façade overlooking Piazza del Duomo in Milan.
Portrait image courtesy of miart © Delfino Sisto Legnani
The aim of art is to represent not the outward appearance of things, but their inward significance. – Aristotle
