Museo Madre President Laura Valente on 2020 Plans and Kathryn Weir Era

Laura Valente, president of Museo Madre in Naples and named best president of 2019 by Artribune, outlines the museum's 2020 programming in an interview. The museum enters a new era under artistic director Kathryn Weir, who will relocate to Naples in March. On February 4, the Fondazione Donnaregina will be officially at Kunst Palast in Düsseldorf as a partner for 'Untold Stories,' a show curated by the late Peter Lindbergh, which includes a residency in Naples that will now arrive at Madre in February 2021. In late May, the museum launches its first festival 'Piazza Madre,' described as a 'Woodstock' of contemporary languages and cultures. A retrospective on Alessandro Mendini opens in October, with one of his works remaining in the permanent collection. Valente reports a 37% increase in attendance compared to the same period in 2019, and a quadrupling of 'curtain rises' to embrace all contemporary languages. The museum increased public funding by over 1.3 million euros through regional and European projects. Valente emphasizes the need to overcome bureaucracy and envisions Madre as a democratized space that actively collaborates with communities, echoing Jette Sandahl's proposal for a new museum definition.