The 15^th edition of the Italian Contemporary Art Day was celebrated by Embassy of Italy at Stal Gallery with the opening of an exhibition recently.

The opening ceremony was attended by the Ambassador of Italy, H.E. Federica Favi, together with Mattia Agnetti, Executive Secretary of the Venice Museums Foundation and Maurizio Carlin, Director for Culture and Tourism of the City of Venice, as well as by a number of officials and representatives from the cultural field in Oman.

The exhibition titled ‘Tangible Monologues. Unexpected geographies of self-portraits’, featured works from young Italian and Omani artists who worked on the theme as part of a three-day workshop. As part of the workshop, the artists also engaged in a dialogue between different ways of looking at their own culture.

The initiative included Italian artist Gloriamaria Gorreri, winner of the ‘Artefici del nostro tempo’ award, which has been promoted by the Venice Museums Foundation and the City of Venice in connection with the 58’ Venice Art Biennale under the theme ‘May you live in interesting times.’

The exhibition also featured works from emerging Omani artists such as Budoor Al Riyami, Rawan Al Mahrouqi, Ruqaiya Al Balushi, Safa Al Balushi and Sarah Al Aulaqui.

Hassan Meer, Art curator of Stal Gallery, has been supporting and promoting Omani talents in the field of contemporary art over the last years with the Young Emerging Talents Prize, while the Ministry of Foreign Affairs of Italy promotes Contemporary Art Day as a medium through which it celebrates and spreads awareness of  Italian contemporary art abroad.