Florence Biennale annuncia la sua XV Edizione: a Tim Burton va il Premio "Lorenzo il Magnifico" alla Carriera

The Florence Biennale announces the anticipated XV Edition, which will be held at the Fortezza da Basso in Florence from October 18 to 26, 2025. This prestigious international exhibition of contemporary art and design in the city of the Medici is a cultural showcase that stands out from other biennials for its format. Indeed, the focus is on the artists and designers themselves, who are the exhibitors and therefore the protagonists, selected after careful evaluation by the Curatorial Committee. The goal of this innovative formula is to create a valuable and effective opportunity for all artists to present their work directly to cultural operators and the general public in an independent and multifaceted context that spontaneously creates opportunities and conditions for direct dialogue.

Through a rich program of side events such as conferences, exhibitions, performances, screenings, and educational initiatives, the biennale offers several opportunities for meetings between artists and visitors, who can engage in discussions on various aspects of art and culture, with particular attention to the central theme of the current edition.

The theme chosen for the 2025 edition is "The Sublime Essence of Light and Darkness. Concepts of Dualism and Unity in Contemporary Art and Design," dedicated to the primordial and eternal relationship between light and darkness, always at the heart of artistic, scientific, philosophical, and literary research. The XV Florence Biennale includes the following artistic categories in competition: Ceramic Art, Digital Art, Jewelry Art and Design, Textile Art and Fiber Art, Drawing, Printmaking and Calligraphy, Photography, Installation Art, Mixed Media, Performance Art, Painting, Sculpture, Video Art, with participation from hundreds of artists from over 80 countries and 5 continents. On the other hand, the categories listed for the design sector are: Architecture and Town Design, Industrial and Product Design, Fashion and Jewellery Design, Interior Design, Communication and Graphic Design, Technology and Game Design.

FORMAT PRESENTATION

The Florence Biennale, founded in 1997 by Pasquale and Piero Celona along with a committee of artists, curators, and art critics, is directed by Jacopo Celona, assisted by event manager and curator Giovanni Cordoni.
Each edition covers 11,000 square meters and features around 600 artists from over 80 countries with more than 1,500 works, carefully selected to ensure an extraordinary variety of styles. Among these, several special guests are invited to participate for their significance in the international art scene. Besides offering a broad schedule of thematic exhibitions, special projects, guests of honor, and prestigious national previews, the Florence Biennale grants 2 lifetime achievement awards dedicated to the categories of art and design.

Exhibiting artists who stand out for their works in their respective artistic categories receive the “Lorenzo il Magnifico” International Award, assigned by an International Jury composed of prominent figures from the art and culture world. This recognition is named to honor Lorenzo de' Medici, known as "the Magnificent," to emphasize the Florentine nature of the event and to ideally connect it to its important artistic history through the emblematic figure of the great patron and promoter of the Arts of the Renaissance.
This award is accompanied by the “Lorenzo il Magnifico” Lifetime Achievement Award—intended for individuals and institutions who have shown particular artistic merits or contributions to the world of culture—and the “Lorenzo il Magnifico” President's Award, which is granted to artists recognized for significant contributions to the development and spread of contemporary art today, at the discretion and judgment of the President of the Florence Biennale, Pasquale Celona.

Among those awarded the Lifetime Achievement in art in past editions are Marina Abramović (2009), Gustavo Aceves (2019), Refik Anadol (2019), Sauro Cavallini (in memoriam, 2017), David Hockney (2003), Christo & Jeanne-Claude (2005), Ferrari & Pininfarina (2003), Gilbert & George (2007), Arata Isozaki (2017), Anish Kapoor (2013), Michelangelo Pistoletto (2021), Oliviero Toscani (2021), Franco Zeffirelli (2019), and David LaChapelle (2023).

For the 4th consecutive time, a section will also be dedicated to the design world. This recent introduction has acquired particular significance in the year celebrating the 500th anniversary of Leonardo da Vinci's death, whose genius is always associated with technical-scientific design, as well as artistic. It is to this grand personality that the design section awards are named.

The best exhibiting designers in the 6 categories receive the “Leonardo da Vinci” International Award for Design, assigned like the art section by an International Jury composed of eminent personalities in the field.
The “Leonardo da Vinci” International Lifetime Achievement Award is granted to individuals and/or organizations distinguished by their work, making a significant contribution to creativity and innovation.
Finally, the “Leonardo da Vinci” President's Award is intended for designers recognized for their significant contributions to the development and distribution of design, at the discretion and judgment of the President of the Florence Biennale, Pasquale Celona.

In past editions, some of the Lifetime Achievement awardees in the Design section have been Salvatore and Wanda Ferragamo (2019), Elsa Peretti of Tiffany & Co. (2019), Paula Scher (2019), Vivienne Westwood (2021), and Santiago Calatrava (2023).

On the occasion of the XV edition, the Florence Biennale will award the “Lorenzo il Magnifico” International Lifetime Achievement Award to the American director and artist Tim Burton, who will be honored in person on Tuesday, October 21, 2025, at the theater area of the Florence Biennale at Fortezza da Basso in Florence.

The renowned American filmmaker and artist expressed his reaction to the award: "I am very honored to be the new recipient of the ‘Lorenzo il Magnifico’ Lifetime Achievement award, joining the list of extraordinary artists awarded in the past. This recognition also gives me the opportunity to create an exhibition in Florence for the Biennale, and I look forward to exploring this year’s theme on dualism and unity through my art, and reflecting on those opposites that do not exist without each other: light and darkness, good and evil, order and chaos."

For more information on the program of the XV edition of the Florence Biennale, visit the website https://www.florencebiennale.org/
Web: www.culturaliart.com/eventi...