Cultural and Exhibition Project
As a hub for communication, dialogue, and cross-disciplinary collaboration, MAXXI L’Aquila acts as a dynamic network linking contemporary creators and diverse actors across the artistic and scientific ecosystems (galleries, foundations, associations, museums, and research institutes), giving voice to exceptional national and international creativity.
We will start with the special commissions of Italian artists Elisabetta Benassi, Daniela De Lorenzo, Alberto Garutti, Nunzio, Ettore Spalletti and the young Russian artist Anastasia Potemkina, and with the original projects of two masters of photography: the one on L’Aquila by Paolo Pellegrin and the one by Stefano Cerio with the inhabitants of Onna.
Palazzo Ardinghelli
Just a short walk from the Fontana Luminosa and Corso Vittorio Emanuele, in the heart of L’Aquila’s historic city center, stands Palazzo Ardinghelli.
The building was designed between 1732 and 1743 by the Roman architect Francesco Fontana, son of the renowned Carlo Fontana. The defining architectural features—along with its facade—include the courtyard and its monumental Borromini-inspired staircase, decorated with frescoes painted in 1744 by Venetian artist Vincenzo Damini.
This internal courtyard connects Piazza Santa Maria Paganica and Via Giuseppe Garibaldi, transforming the museum into an open public space for the city—much like the urban plaza of MAXXI in Rome, welcoming both the neighborhood and the community.
Severely damaged by the 2009 earthquake, this elegant palace underwent a meticulous and skillful structural consolidation, seismic upgrade, and historical restoration project led by MiBACT (Ministry of Cultural Heritage and Activities and Tourism), made possible through funding from the Russian government.
The museographical design and the adaptation of functional spaces—tailored for displaying works from the MAXXI Collection and hosting its cultural programming—were designed by an expert team of technicians from the MAXXI Foundation in agreement with MiBACT.
