Stefano Collicelli Cagol Appointed Director of Centro Pecci

Stefano Collicelli Cagol has been named the new director of the Centro per l'arte contemporanea Luigi Pecci in Prato, ending a period of controversy following the abrupt dismissal of former director Cristiana Perrella in October 2021. Collicelli Cagol will assume leadership on January 10, 2022, with a three-year mandate, appointed by the Board of Directors of the Fondazione per le Arti Contemporanee in Toscana, chaired by Lorenzo Bini Smaghi. The selection was made by a commission comprising Bruno Corà, Sarah Cosulich, Guido Guerzoni, and Lorenzo Sassoli de Bianchi. Collicelli Cagol, born in Padua in 1978, holds a PhD in Curating Contemporary Art from the Royal College of Art in London (2014). He previously served as curator at Trondheim kunstmuseum (2015–2017) and La Quadriennale di Roma (2018–2020), co-curating the Quadriennale d'arte 2020 FUORI at Palazzo delle Esposizioni. He has taught at Politecnico di Torino and currently works as curator at BY ART MATTERS in Hangzhou, China. He expressed happiness at his appointment, vowing to continue the center's multidisciplinary research. The controversy began when Perrella was fired without notice on October 8, 2021, while traveling for the museum. Bini Smaghi cited a gentlemen's agreement for her resignation by April 2022, but Perrella claimed the board had secretly sought a successor since summer 2021, damaging her reputation. Two petitions to reinstate her failed. The museum awaits Collicelli Cagol's impact.