2026 promises to be a year of great cultural vibrancy for MAXXI L’Aquila, one of the key players in L’Aquila’s designation as the 2026 Italian Capital of Culture. A diverse program of exhibitions, projects, and performances will enliven Palazzo Ardinghelli and various venues throughout the city, reinforcing the museum’s role as a hub for cultural production, research, and dialogue with the local community.
The exhibition season opens on April 28, 2026, with Ai Weiwei. Aftershock, an exhibition curated by Tim Marlow. Through films, videos, photographs, sculptures, and installations, the project spans five decades of the Chinese artist’s career, exploring the lasting impact of natural disasters, conflicts, corruption, and man-made tragedies.
Throughout the year, the collaboration between MAXXI L’Aquila and the City of L’Aquila continues with SOND – The School of Narrative Dance by Marinella Senatore. This participatory research project in the local area involves citizens and local communities and will culminate, between late May and early June, in a large-scale collective performance that will transform the city into a vast, open-air stage.
In June 2026, MAXXI will move out of its Palazzo Ardinghelli location to open the exhibition *Convergences and Continuities: Architecture and Urban Landscapes in Abruzzo, 1930–1960*, hosted in the recently restored spaces of Palazzo Ex Omni. Curated by Mario Centofanti, Raffaele Giannantonio, and Andrea Mantovano, the exhibition explores a crucial period in the architectural and urban evolution of the Abruzzo region.
Finally, in September 2026, MAXXI L’Aquila will open a major exhibition dedicated to Fabio Mauri, curated by Maurizio Cattelan and Marta Papini, organized to mark the centennial of the artist’s birth. The project pays tribute to a central figure in 20th-century art and thought, focusing on the works conceived and created by Mauri during the period when he taught Aesthetics of Experimentation at the Academy of Fine Arts in L’Aquila, between 1979 and 1999, highlighting the deep connection between his artistic practice, the city, and its inhabitants.
With this program, MAXXI L’Aquila reaffirms its role as one of the central cultural hubs of L’Aquila, the 2026 Italian Capital of Culture, contributing to a multifaceted narrative that weaves together contemporary art, participation, memory, and visions for the future.
