Fondazione Sandretto Re Rebaudengo

Fondazione Sandretto Re Rebaudengo
Name	Fondazione Sandretto Re Rebaudengo
Established	1995
Location	Turin, Piedmont, Italy
Type	Contemporary art foundation
Founder	Maria Grazia Sandretto Re Rebaudengo
Director	Nicola Ricciardi

Fondazione Sandretto Re Rebaudengo is an Italian contemporary art foundation based in Turin, Piedmont, established by Maria Grazia Sandretto Re Rebaudengo in 1995 to support contemporary art practice through exhibitions, collections, residencies, and education. The foundation operates exhibition spaces in Turin and Rome and has collaborated with artists, curators, museums, biennials, and cultural institutions across Europe and North America. Its activities intersect with international art fairs, cultural policy networks, academic programs, and municipal initiatives in Turin and beyond.

History

The foundation was created in 1995 by Maria Grazia Sandretto Re Rebaudengo and developed during the cultural revitalization of Turin associated with events like the 2006 Winter Olympics, the Museo Nazionale del Cinema renewal, and initiatives by the Fondazione Torino Musei. Early projects connected the foundation to artists such as Maurizio Cattelan, Mike Kelley, and Anish Kapoor while engaging curators linked to institutions like the Tate Modern, Centre Pompidou, and Museo Reina Sofía. Throughout the 2000s the foundation expanded collections and programs amid partnerships with the Venice Biennale, Documenta, and Manifesta, and collaborated with collectors, galleries such as Gagosian and Hauser & Wirth, and critics active in Artforum, Frieze, and Flash Art. In the 2010s the foundation launched residency programs influenced by models from Skowhegan, Rijksakademie, and Künstlerhaus Bethanien, and opened Officine Grandi Riparazioni-related projects that interacted with Comune di Torino urban policies and European cultural funds. Recent phases include collaborations with MAXXI, Castello di Rivoli, and Fondazione Prada, positioning the foundation within discussions involving the European Commission, Creative Europe, and national funding frameworks.

Mission and Activities

The foundation’s mission combines support for contemporary art production with public programming, working with artists including Pipilotti Rist, Maurizio Cattelan, and Marlene Dumas and curators connected to Okwui Enwezor, Hans Ulrich Obrist, and Carolyn Christov-Bakargiev. Activities encompass temporary exhibitions, acquisitions, commissions, and residency schemes that liaise with institutions such as the Guggenheim Museum, Museum of Modern Art, and Whitney Museum, and cultural networks like IKT, ICOM, and Transnational Arts Collective. Collaborative projects have included artist commissions linked to Venice Biennale pavilions, curated shows involving Serpentine Galleries, Palais de Tokyo, and Hamburger Bahnhof, and offsite research with universities such as the University of Turin, Columbia University, and Goldsmiths, University of London. The foundation also participates in art-market events including Art Basel, Frieze Art Fair, and TEFAF while hosting symposia with foundations such as the Getty Foundation, Annenberg Foundation, and Paul Getty Trust.

Collection and Exhibitions

The permanent collection features works by internationally recognized figures like Bruce Nauman, Cindy Sherman, Jeff Koons, and Jannis Kounellis alongside emerging artists who have exhibited at the Venice Biennale, Documenta, and Manifesta. Exhibition history includes collaborations and loans with institutions such as the Centre Pompidou, Tate Modern, MoMA PS1, and the Serpentine, and solo shows that have toured to the Hammer Museum, Stedelijk Museum, and Museo Tamayo. The foundation’s curatorial programs have engaged curators from the Solomon R. Guggenheim Museum, Museo Reina Sofía, Kunsthalle Zürich, and Palais de Tokyo, and have featured performance commissions linked to festivals like Performa, Wiener Festwochen, and Festival d’Automne. Catalogue production and critical discourse have intersected with publishers such as Phaidon, Taschen, and Skira and with journals including Artforum, frieze, and October.

Architecture and Venues

The foundation’s primary venue in Turin was designed through adaptive reuse strategies that echo projects by architects such as Renzo Piano, Rem Koolhaas, and Norman Foster, and has been compared to conversions like the Tate Modern and Zeche Zollverein. Sites of activity have included gallery spaces, storage and conservation facilities modeled on standards promoted by ICOM-CC and ICCROM, and satellite venues in Rome linked to Palazzo Borghese and Ex Dogana. The foundation has commissioned site-specific installations referencing practices by Gordon Matta-Clark, Christo and Jeanne-Claude, and Rachel Whiteread, and has collaborated with landscape architects and conservationists from institutions such as the Getty Conservation Institute and Fondazione per l'Arte Moderna.

Education and Outreach

Educational programs connect with schools and universities such as the Accademia Albertina, Politecnico di Torino, and Istituto Europeo di Design and collaborate with museum education departments at the Guggenheim, Tate, and MoMA. Outreach includes workshops, lectures, and publications co-organized with curatorial programs from Goldsmiths, Columbia University, and the School of the Art Institute of Chicago, and public events featuring critics and historians affiliated with the Royal College of Art, École des Beaux-Arts, and Universität der Künste Berlin. Residency exchanges have involved institutions like Skowhegan School of Painting & Sculpture, Rijksakademie van beeldende kunsten, and Künstlerhaus Bethanien, while symposiums have drawn participants from the European Cultural Foundation, British Council, and Goethe-Institut.

Governance and Funding

Governance is overseen by a board including members from Italian cultural circles, collectors networked with Fondation Louis Vuitton patrons, and advisors with links to institutions such as the Metropolitan Museum of Art, Museo del Novecento, and Castello di Rivoli. Funding streams combine private philanthropy associated with family foundations, sponsorships from corporations like Intesa Sanpaolo and Lavazza, project grants from Creative Europe and the Compagnia di San Paolo, and occasional public support from Regione Piemonte and Comune di Torino. Financial and legal frameworks draw on practices from nonprofit governance models in the United States, United Kingdom, and Italy and engage auditors, legal counsel, and arts law specialists who have advised institutions such as the British Museum, Louvre, and Victoria and Albert Museum.

Category:Contemporary art museums in Italy