Pirelli HangarBicocca confirms its twenty-year commitment to the promotion of contemporary art through an exhibition programme that is open, accessible, and inspired by the logic of the modern world. The eight monographic exhibitions announced for the 2026-2027 period ‒ designed by the curatorial department led by Artistic Director Vicente Todolí - follow an investigative path aimed at critically interpreting the times in which we live. This is in line with the goals guiding the Milanese non-profit foundation since its establishment in 2004.
In 2026, the Shed spaces - which traditionally host the work of emerging personalities - will feature Benni Bosetto (from 12 February to 19 July) and Aki Sasamoto (from 17 September to 17 January 2027). Both are united by research that involves communication, the body, and the significance of daily gestures. Bosetto's first institutional exhibition extends the artist's reflection on identity themes and the deconstruction of the body, transforming the Shed into a domestic context to highlight a practice where drawing, installation, performance, and sculpture converge. Aki Sasamoto's creative language is rooted in similar ground. For her first European exhibition, she focuses on the idea of connection and the complex relational universe through works created over two decades, combining playfulness and intuition.
Alternating in the Navate - areas intended for the interventions of established historic artists - are Rirkrit Tiravanija (from 26 March to 26 July) and Luciano Fabro (from 8 October to 21 February 2027). Both are driven by a desire to interrogate locations and analyse the link between spectators, works, and space. Known since the 1990s for his ability to place installation, photography, performance, sculpture, and drawing at the service of a participatory and socially conscious approach, Tiravanija's monograph includes not only celebrated pieces but also installations evoking the buildings of architects such as Frederick Kiesler, Le Corbusier and Jean Prouvé. Luciano Fabro, a cornerstone of Arte Povera, also explored the territories of habitation, shaping a new way of understanding sculpture through the lens of its materials - from iron to glass, and marble to silk. On the occasion of the first Italian retrospective since the artist's passing in 2007, and in collaboration with Silvia Fabro (Archivio Luciano e Carla Fabro), Pirelli HangarBicocca provides the backdrop for a rich selection of sculptures and installations. This includes the structures, often obtained using paper, that Fabro defined as "Habitats," which serve to set the scene for his works.
Materiality is also the common thread running through the multidisciplinary visual vocabulary of Carlos Bunga. In his first solo exhibition in Italy (February to July 2027), he will reshape the contours and volumes of the Shed, expanding his examination of socio-economic disparity and the authoritarian tensions that define our spaces. Art and science are the anchors of Hicham Berrada's poetics. From September 2027 to January 2028, he will animate the Shed with immersive, multi-sensory environments for his first monograph in an Italian institution. By combining physical laws, dreamlike atmospheres, cinematic imagery and references to the natural world, Berrada studies reality from an original perspective.
The practice of Janet Cardiff and George Bures Miller, whose longevous artistic partnership has yielded globally acclaimed results, focuses on sensory experience and the creation of multimedia installations. Eroding the limit between the real and the virtual, the Canadian duo uses sound to reflect on the value of personal and collective memory. From March to July 2027, the Navate of Pirelli HangarBicocca will host the first major retrospective of Janet Cardiff and George Bures Miller in an Italian institution for twenty years: a mix of powerful installations and more intimate interventions, featuring both well-known pieces and new works.
The 2027 programme concludes with a solo exhibition by Cecilia Vicuña (October to February 2028). Recognised as one of the most radical voices in contemporary art, Vicuña prioritises the rediscovery of ancestral knowledge over overwhelming progress. Her work in sculpture, poetry, and performance offers vital reflections on ecology and social justice, highlighting the fragility of today's world. Thanks to the inclusion of numerous works by the artist, the exhibition will take on the form of a living archive, inhabited by the many themes and impulses that guide Vicuña's thought.
