The Fondazione Musei Civici di Venezia has opened a new museum in Mestre called MUVEC (Casa delle Contemporaneità), housed within the Centro Candiani. Directed by Elisabetta Barisoni, the museum presents 50 works from the civic collections of modern and contemporary art from Ca' Pesaro in Venice, spanning from 1948 to the present. It explores the evolution of contemporary art in the region after World War II, with a dual focus on international art that has passed through Venice and local artistic developments tied to Mestre's own growth.
This project matters because it represents a rare Italian example of urban and social regeneration through a museum, actively engaging diverse audiences of all ages, backgrounds, and ethnicities. Massimiliano Tonelli, director of Artribune, highlights that while such inclusive, community-rooted museum initiatives are common in Europe and North America, they are still uncommon in Italy, making MUVEC a significant and commendable model for cultural institutions in the country.