Unexpected, little known, but of unquestionable iconic power and enormous stage presence: these are the landmarks of contemporary art in Italy, the stars of a new documentary series  produced by the Ministry of Foreign Affairs and International Cooperation, in collaboration with Sky Arte and TIWI as executive producers.

Led by critic and journalist Nicolas Ballario, ‘Italia Contemporanea’ (Contemporary Italy) is a new way of discovering contemporary art in Italy, covering the most representative works, the most famous museums as well as the most secretive or elusive spaces – from redeveloped former factories to open-air museums. A thematic journey throughout Italy, giving a voice, episode after episode, to artists, curators and art historians, among the most renowned on the current art scene.

‘Italia Contemporanea’ will be shown for the first time on  Sky channels 120 and 400 from 8 May, at 8:45 pm (italian time). Each episode will be available on demand and via streaming on NOW, and for free on video.sky.it/arte and on the italiana Vimeo channel.

Four episodes forming an ideal overview of locations, works, images and ideas:

• ‘Metropoli’ (Metropolis), broadcast on 8 May. An episode dedicated exclusively to the museums of major cities, true temples of contemporary art: The Museo del Novecento in Milan; the MaXXI – The National Museum of XXI Century Arts in Rome; the Madre Museum in Naples; and the MAMbo in Bologna. Guest artist Marinella Senatore.
• ‘Open Air’, broadcast on 15 May. Italy is full of open-air museums: in squares, gardens, cities and parks. To get to know them is to be immersed in spaces that are sometimes hidden, sometimes in plain sight: ‘Fontana Igloo’ by Mario Merz and Fondazione Merz in Turin; ‘Tuttomondo’ by Keith Haring in Pisa; ‘Ago, filo e nodo’ by Claes Oldenburg and Coosje van Bruggen in Milan; ‘Grande Cretto’ by Alberto Burri in Gibellina. Guest Piergiorgio Castellani, the co-creator, with Keith Haring, of the ‘Tuttomondo’ mural in Pisa.
• ‘Vecchio e nuovo’ (Old and New), on air on 22 May. Old buildings, former factories, archaeological sites that now house works of art: in this episode we will discover contemporary art in historical or renovated locations: OGR, the Fondazione Sandretto Re Rebaudengo and the Castello di Rivoli in Turin; the Pirelli Hangar Bicocca in Milan; the ‘Cavallo di sabbia’ by Mimmo Paladino in Paestum; the Peggy Guggenheim Collection, the Pinault Collection and the Biennale in Venice. Guest: art historian Angela Vettese.
• ‘Off road’, on air on 29 May. Places that are inaccessible or isolated, spectacular and sublime, or simply off the beaten track: discover art where you don’t expect it. The ‘Calamita Cosmica’ by Gino De Dominicis in the former church of the Santissima Trinità in Annunziata in Foligno; the Centro per l’Arte Contemporanea Luigi Pecci (Luigi Pecci Contemporary Art Centre) in Prato; the Stazione dell’Arte in Ulassai (NU); the ‘Giardino dei tarocchi’ by Niki de Saint Phalle in Pescia Fiorentina. Guest speaker is the director of the Centro Pecci of Prato Cristiana Perrella.