Arte contemporanea e tutela del patrimonio storico: a Ischia nasce Fondazione Mattera
On the island of Ischia, Italy, the newly established Fondazione Karin e Gabriele Mattera has opened at the Castello Aragonese, founded by siblings Cristina and Nicola Mattera to continue the legacy of their father, artist and philanthropist Gabriele Mattera (1929–2005). The foundation launches with a major retrospective dedicated to Gabriele Mattera himself, curated by Jana Curcenco, held in the Chiesa dell'Immacolata and rooms of the Convento reopened for the occasion. This marks a new structured phase for the cultural hub, which began its contemporary art exhibition activity in 1980 with a show by Giuseppe Santomaso.
The foundation's creation matters because it formalizes a decades-long, visionary project of architectural restoration and cultural revitalization. The Mattera family has been restoring the monumental 56,000-square-meter Castello Aragonese—a complex of historic buildings including the Palazzo Reale, the Convento, and the Cattedrale dell'Assunta—since Gabriele Mattera's father purchased it at auction in 1912 in a state of ruin. By pairing ongoing architectural conservation with a systematic program of contemporary art production and promotion, the foundation ensures that this unique site continues to serve as a bridge between historical heritage and contemporary artistic practice, benefiting both the local community and the broader art world.