Fondazione ICA Milano will reopen to the public on 18 September 2026, launching its new season with a program of events spanning visual arts, publishing, cinema, music, and performance.

For more than a month, the Foundation’s spaces will serve as a cultural hub for dialogue, exchange, and imagination through installations, book launches, film screenings, lecture performances, concerts, and public conversations.

She Flickered In and Out of History.
By Elisa Giardina Papa
18 September, 2026

On 18 September, Elisa Giardina Papa will present She Flickered In and Out of History, the new work screened for the first time in Milan will be accompanied by a public conversation between the artist and Andrea Nitsche-Krupp, Curator at ICA London. 
The project continues the artist’s exploration of the submerged narratives of the Mediterranean through a work that oscillates between historical inquiry and speculative imagination, weaving together geology, myth, and politics. Drawing on the story of the volcanic island that emerged between Tunisia and Sicily in 1831 before disappearing just a few months later, the installation addresses notions of borders, belonging, and sovereignty, weaving together  reflections on  elemental antagonism and decolonial, queer temporalities. Alongside the new work, U Scantu: A Disorderly Tale (2022), the previous chapter in the artist’s trilogy dedicated to the forgotten histories of the Mediterranean, will also be presented.
The project was realized with the support of the Italian Council program (2024), promoted by the Directorate-General for Contemporary Creativity of the Italian Ministry of Culture.

During the upcoming exhibition season, the artist will also present a project in collaboration with Vistamare gallery.

Book presentation Con la mano sinistra, quella del cuore. Lucia Pescador in conversation with Michela Alessandrini, with a selection of drawings by Lucia Pescador
24 – 26 September 2026

From 24 to 26 September, the Foundation hosts Lucia Pescador for the presentation of the publication Con la mano sinistra, quella del cuore. Lucia Pescador, published by Electa in 2025 and edited by Michela Alessandrini, curator at the Fondation Cartier, accompanied with a selection of the artist’s drawings. In the book, Michela Alessandrini recounts her encounters in Pescador’s home-studio, reflecting on its composition, archive, and the narratives that emerge from it, interwoven with the story of the ordinary and extraordinary life of an artist who carries forward the culture of the twentieth century, interpreting it with a disarmingly awkward lucidity.

Screening of Annina Nosei – A Portrait
A film by Fabio Cherstich
30 September 2026

On the Foundation’s first floor, a screening of a film dedicated to the renowned gallerist Annina Nosei will take place in the presence of director Fabio Cherstich. The first cut of Annina Nosei – A Portrait, a new project by No Text Azienda and Fabio Cherstich, offers an intimate portrayal of Annina Nosei, the influential gallerist who shaped the international art scene and championed the early career of Jean-Michel Basquiat. Moving between her home in New York City and her house in upstate New York, the film retraces an extraordinary life, transforming the biography of one of the art world’s leading figures into a reflection on memory, intuition, and vision.

Lecture Performance
by Allison Grimaldi Donahue
30 September 2026

On the Foundation’s ground floor, Allison Grimaldi Donahue presents Proof of Your History: A Journey with Barbara Guest and Allison Grimaldi Donahue, a lecture performance developed through research conducted in the archives of poet Barbara Guest at Yale University, supported by the Italian Council programme. The project unfolds as a visual and poetic diary, shaped through an intimate reading experience.
The research project was realized with the support of the Directorate-General for Contemporary Creativity of the Italian Ministry of Culture as part of the Italian Council programme (14th edition, 2025), which aims to promote Italian contemporary art internationally.

Danza gentile sull’orlo di una tempesta
Live Show and Live Painting curated by Arianna Pasini and Arianna Zama
8 October 2026

The program continues on 8 October with the presentation of Danza gentile sull’orlo di una tempesta, the second album by Arianna Pasini. Performed by a special ensemble that includes a string section, the concert will be accompanied by a live painting performance by Arianna Zama, whose artwork is featured on the album cover. Throughout the performance, the album’s producer, Marco Giudici, will record the event live, transforming the concert into a collaborative act of artistic creation.

High Tide
Performance by Emma Dotti, Chiara Sibilla, Sabrina Zanolini
Curated by Cloe Piccoli
9 October 2026

On 9 October, Fondazione ICA Milano presents High Tide, an evening of performances by Emma Dotti, Chiara Sibilla, and Sabrina Zanolini, curated by critic and curator Cloe Piccoli.
High Tide explores themes of transformation, adaptation, resistance, and resilience in response to the pressures, tensions, and challenges confronting humanity at the close of the Anthropocene. The three artists, all graduates of the Brera Academy of Fine Arts, examine the vulnerabilities of the human body through their performance practices. The program opens with a scientific perspective that questions humanity’s ambition to assert dominance over the world from an upright posture. In the background, the deafening sounds of combat reveal the dangers of an overly efficient mode of locomotion. In the dim light, the transformation of the body becomes an awkward act of rebellion, futilely attempting to disrupt the evolutionary process. Through a dynamic interplay of cause and effect, the performances create a framework in which resistance, instability, and inadequacy emerge.
Conceived specifically for Fondazione ICA Milano, the works establish a meaningful relationship with the Foundation’s spaces, both physically and metaphorically.

Presentation of Breaking the Circuit of Control. On the Traces of Franco Basaglia in Brazil
By Francesco Bertocco, with the curator Gabi Scardi in dialogue with Giovanna Silva and Luca Mosso
15 October 2026

On 15 October, artist Francesco Bertocco will present his recent research on the work of Franco Basaglia in Brazil through the publication Breaking the Circuit of Control: On the Traces of Franco Basaglia in Brazil, published by Humboldt Books, in conversation with curator Gabi Scardi. The presentation will be followed by a screening of the film O Homem no Pelourinho and a roundtable discussion with Giovanna Silva and Luca Mosso. The project was realized with the support of the Directorate-General for Contemporary Creativity of the Italian Ministry of Culture as part of the Italian Council program (13th edition, 2024), which aims to promote Italian contemporary art internationally.

Fondazione ICA Milano would like to thank Banca Intesa Sanpaolo, the Foundation’s official sponsor, Valsoia and Enel for their support of ICA Milano’s programme and activities.

The presentation of Elisa Giardina Papa. She Flickered In and Out of History is supported by Eni, the Foundation’s Main Partner.