Galleria Continua

Galleria Continua opened in San Gimignano in 1990 by three friends: Mario Cristiani, Lorenzo Fiaschi and Maurizio Rigillo. They began by opening a gallery space in Via della Rocca, 1 in San Gimignano in the middle of Tuscany, looking to bring contemporary art into a rural context, away from busy metropoli and expected centres of culture. This adventure has developed over 30 years and the gallery now has 7 locations on 5 continents. The gallery has remained faithful to bringing contemporary art to unexpected places, to involving as many different people as possible in their projects, and to being a meeting point for people and communities.
Galleria Continua was the first foreign gallery with an international program to open in China in 2004. In 2020 it inaugurated a new exhibition venue in Rome inside The St. Regis Rome and one in Brazil, Galleria Continua São Paulo, situated inside the Pacaembu sports complex. In 2021, it opened a space in Le Marais neighbourhood in Paris, France. 
== San Gimignano ==
Galleria Continua first opened in San Gimignano (Italy) in 1990. For the most part of the 20th century, the building that now houses the gallery was the cinema/theatre space of the town. In 1990, San Gimignano was an unexpected place to open a contemporary art gallery, especially one which would go on to host exhibitions from some of the most prolific artists of our times. Far away from big cities, San Gimignano was the perfect location: its history provides scope for new opportunities and dialogues between the past and the present. The gallery’s context in this medieval town means that a unique and inimitable experience can be created with contemporary art. It provides many different possibilities and choices for new ways in which to present contemporary art. This is an offer that visitor and artist alike cannot refuse. The effect of this is that Galleria Continua has gained an ability to look outwards rather than inwards, it can commit itself to always consider the relationship between contemporary art, the local geography and people, and the wider international community. This has given way to a strong identity that the gallery has brought forward in its thirty years of history. Generosity and altruism are the fundamental values that drive Galleria Continua’s activity. This translates into its relationships with artists, the public and the places in which the now 7 locations find themselves. Continuity between the ages, both historical and personal, is what Galleria Continua’s projects, artists and exhibitions strive for. 
== Beijing ==
In 2005, Galleria Continua opened its first international space in Beijing, China. It was the first foreign art gallery with an international artist program in China. Located in the 798 Art District, the exhibition space holds up to 3 exhibitions a year. This can be a multi-layered and complex experience: the foreign artist is challenged by the unusual spaces and the visitor’s experience is unique. 
The gallery’s relationship with Chen Zhen and Xu Min was the starting point for its venture into China and in 2004, Galleria Continua took part in a contemporary art fair in Beijing before later that year hosting its first project in the 798 Art District. This was then repeated for the 15th anniversary of Galleria Continua’s presence in China in 2020 with the exhibition “15 years of Galleria Continua in China: to be Continua” which saw works by Ai Weiwei|Ai Weiwei, Kader Attia, Daniel Buren, Loris Cecchini, Chen Zhen, Carlos Garaicoa, Antony Gormley, Carsten Höller, Anish Kapoor, Hans Op de Beeck, Giovanni Ozzola, Michelangelo Pistoletto, Pascale Marthine Tayou, Qiu Zhijie, Kan Xuan, Sun Yuan & Peng Yu and Zhuang Hui. 
== Les Moulins ==
Les Moulins is Galleria Continua’s third site. It opened 21 October 2007 in the middle of the Parisian countryside, in Boissy-le-Châtel|Boissy-Le-Châtel. Les Moulins was conceived to host exhibitions and large installation works. A former factory, the site spans 10,000m2 and welcomed in its first three years of activity over 30,000 international visitors. The site is unique in its positioning which brings stimulating international contemporary art to another unanticipated place, approximately 70km from the city of lights. The site is unique in so far as it has commercial ends but it is also directed towards the local people and their expectations. 
After many years of activities around the world in evolving and unpredictable places, Galleria Continua sought to strengthen its European presence by opening in France. This location is special in so far as it has a rich educational programme which involves the surrounding general public. The actions that constitute this are called “ContinuActions”. They consist of guided visits, group visits, seminars and meetings for professionals, school visits and workshops. This is a very important part of Galleria Continua / Les Moulins as it perpetuates the gallery’s founding ethos of establishing connections and relationships with local communities through art. 
In 2010, Galleria Continua acquired the old paper mill of Sainte-Marie that dates from the 18th century. The two large warehouses in the middle of the old paper mill were renovated in 2011 and they now host large scale interventions and exhibitions. 
=== Educational ContinuActions / Les Moulins ===
Important to Galleria Continua’s space in Les Moulins is the “Educational ContinuActions” – school visits and workshops that occur on site and that are active proof of Galleria Continua’s community sensibility.
== Havana ==
Opening an exhibition space in Cuba was down to a shared motivation between the gallery’s three partners, Lorenzo, Mario and Maurizio – to encourage not just art to travel, but humanity. Cuba, a fascinating place with immense opportunities, is a place where artists undertake projects that go beyond their own existence and become an experience to be lived.
=== Educational ContinuActions / Habana ===
At Arte Continua / Habana, education has always been an important part of the activity, with many events providing an opportunity for encounters and meetings and providing space for people with similar human, artistic and cultural interests to come together.
A program of talks and presentations by artists, critics and curators for “Charlas Continuas”, has involved the local area and people. Charlas Continuas means continuous chats and is an accessible way into contemporary art through sound sessions and poetry afternoons, the 14 Hours Festival of Music, Dance and Theatre and dental health education days.
Michelangelo Pistoletto, a leading figure in Arte Povera and in Contemporary Art, is an important figure for Continua Habana’s activity. With Laura Salas Redondo he began one of the most operative Embassies of the Third Paradise. This is how they have organized events to spread the artist’s concept of demopraxia but also start dialogues and work on sustainability and creativity. Under the name ”CRE-ARTE en Continua” they have done many workshops, working with children and young people from surrounding schools as well as members of the public and visitors to the gallery. 
Since 2015, the Rebirth Forum, takes place in some of the most recognizeable places in Havana. The rebirth forum came about through a collaboration between Michelangelo Pistoletto, Public Cuban Insititutions, the United Nations|UN and the gallery. It’s an occasion to speak about the UN’s 17 Sustainable Development Goals, using demopraxia as a framework to structure the discussions. During this occasion, they present past and future projects, such as the various projects rom the Third Paradise Embassies all over the world. 
== Rome|Roma ==
In January 2020, in its thirtieth year, Galleria Continua opened a space in Rome in the Sala Diocleziano of the St Regis Rome. It’s also due to this position that another type of audience is involved, an international temporary visitor with time to spend, hence Galleria Continua extends its outreach to all different types of people. 
== São Paulo ==
Galleria Continua / São Paulo opened in the summer of 2020 inside the Pacaembu Stadium|Estádio do Pacaembú, a large sports complex that holds a certain importance for the surrounding area, for São Paulo and for Brazil as a whole. A national emblem, built in the Art Deco style, it has hosted many concerts and important football matches not only for the FIFA World Cup but also for the city’s main football teams. It was home to one of the most famous Brazilian football teams: Sport Club Sport Club Corinthians Paulista|Corinthians Paulista with 1690 games played at the Stadium. Aside from its football field the complex hosts (free) facilities for tennis and swimming, amongst others. 
In 2021, the stadium complex is due to undergo renovation projects that could last two years. Currently, the gallery has a space underneath the spectator’s seats of the stadium. Like its other locations around the world, the gallery operates in and outside of the physical spaces that contain it, involving the local people and extending its outreach to the surrounding area. 
== Paris ==
Galleria Continua’s space in Paris is in the vibrant The Marais|Le Marais neighbourhood, a stone’s throw from the Centre Pompidou. It finds itself in the centre of a city that is significant for the contemporary art scene and is undoubtedly a meeting point for artists, collectors and visitors alike. The 800m2 space was conceived to be somewhere welcoming, open to experimentation, inclusive and accessible while being architecturally complex and far away from the accepted standards of the “white cube”. Galleria Continua / Paris acts as a bridge with Les Moulins at Boissy-le-Châtel; it takes on a hybrid role as not only a gallery space but somewhere to meet, get a coffee, purchase a catalogue, leaf through a book or simply enjoy contemporary art that is on the scale of the surrounding city. Decidedly one of the most urban of Galleria Continua’s chosen gallery contexts, many visitors may not consider themselves passionate about art. Having a space that can be fortuitously passed through is incremental to delivering on Galleria Continua’s promise: to involve an ever larger and diverse audience in contemporary art exhibitions, projects and installations. 
 
Category:1990 establishments