The project Italy-Mozambique. A Bridge Built with Art officially launches on 20 April 2026 in Maputo, Mozambique. The project is promoted by the Directorate-General for Contemporary Creativity of the Ministry of Culture, the Mission Unit for Cultural Cooperation with Africa and the Broader Mediterranean, and the National Museums of Perugia – Regional Directorate of the National Museums of Umbria, in collaboration with the Italian Embassy in Maputo and several key institutional partners active in the Mozambican cultural scene.
The project encompasses three workshop sessions in Maputo and the production of two exhibitions – one in Italy and one in Mozambique. It involves the UNESCO Delegation in Maputo, the School of Communication and Arts of Eduardo Mondlane University (host of the workshop sessions), the Fundação Leite Couto, the Museu Mafalala, the Núcleo de Arte, the Institut Supérieur des Arts et de la Culture, and the Arte de Gema Gallery.
The initiative forms part of the international activities of the Directorate-General for Contemporary Creativity of the Ministry of Culture and those supported and promoted by the Mission Unit for Cultural Cooperation with Africa and the Broader Mediterranean, within the framework of the broader Mattei Plan for Africa: a national programme launched by the Italian Government in 2023-2024 with the aim of bringing about a paradigm shift in relations with the African continent and building partnerships on an equal footing, generating mutual benefits and opportunities.
In the cultural sphere, this Plan finds its ideal expression in Italy-Mozambique. A Bridge Built with Art, an initiative that fully embodies the renewal of exchanges between the two countries.
Italy and Mozambique share a longstanding tradition of diplomatic, cultural and artistic relations, established in 1975, the year of Mozambique’s independence. Collaborations in the fields of architecture, archaeology and literature bear witness to how culture continues to renew its essential role as a privileged space for international diplomacy. From the literary work of Mia Couto to the artistic diplomacy of Bertina Lopes, culture asserts itself as a space for mutual exchange and long-term growth. The artist’s rootedness in Rome helped nurture the climate of understanding that proved fundamental to the conclusion of the 1992 Peace Accords.
Through a series of thematic workshops in the fields of visual arts, photography, curating, design and the promotion of contemporary creativity, coordinated by the National Museums of Perugia, Italy-Mozambique. A Bridge Built with Art offers a programme of training and co-creation that will bring Mozambican students, artists and cultural practitioners into contact with contemporary methodologies and practices of the Italian art system, and vice versa.
The program will conclude with a collective exhibition featuring artists from both countries, hosted at the Natural History Museum of Maputo, recently refurbished thanks to the contribution of the Italian Embassy in Maputo. The Embassy is taking part in the initiative as part of the promotional program Mozita 2026, supported by numerous companies operating in Mozambique: Renco, BCI, Cotur, Inalca, Eni, MSC, Matemo, Messina and Savino Del Bene.
As Ambassador Gabriele Annis stated: «Culture and art are not an ornament of development: they are its condition. But art is also a productive sector. Cultural and creative industries generate skilled employment, innovation and measurable economic value; it is no coincidence that they consistently rank among the fastest-growing sectors. For this reason, with A Bridge Built with Art, we are pleased to introduce a professionalising dimension into our cultural exchange initiatives.»
Three workshop sessions will take place in April (20–24 April), June (1–5 June) and October (19–23 October) 2026, combining theoretical and practical elements, designed to foster mutual knowledge and explore themes identified as particularly significant by the project’s promoters: «ancient art and contemporary art: a possible dialogue»; «organising and curating an exhibition»; «communicating and promoting an exhibition and one’s own artistic work»; «cutting-edge artistic techniques in contemporary practice»; «the contemporary art market»; «documenting an exhibition and artistic work».
The professionals involved in these initial phases of the project are: Mozambican curators Elia Gemuce, Ivan Laranjeira, Rafael Mouzinho and Carolina Vilalva; Italian curators Lorenzo Balbi, Giuliana Benassi, Gabriele Simongini and Andrea Viliani; Italian artists Bruno Ceccobelli, Matteo Montani, Alice Pasquini and Pietro Ruffo; and Italian photographers Marco Giugliarelli and Giordano Simoncini. Further practitioners and professionals from the contemporary art sector will join the project throughout the year.
