Matera's I Tre Portali blends hospitality with contemporary art exhibitions

Monica Palumbo, director of Momart gallery, and her husband Vittorio Losco have transformed the historic residence I Tre Portali in Matera's Sassi district into a venue combining luxury accommodation with rotating contemporary art exhibitions. The project, launched in 2016, features suites with rock-cut Turkish baths, chromotherapy, and hydro-massage, alongside exhibition spaces. The current show, running from March to late July, presents works by Piero Vinci and Lisa Cutrino. Vinci's paintings evoke 1960s cultural icons like Coretta Scott King, Nina Simone, Dexter Gordon, John Lee Hooker, and Chet Baker, as well as Italian postwar fashion scenes. Cutrino's narrative works focus on everyday gestures and social dynamics, depicting elderly, women, and children in photographic poses. The initiative aims to offer guests an art-infused holiday experience, with future plans to host national and international artists for site-specific installations. Matera was European Capital of Culture in 2019.