Milan’s 2014 MiArt fair fired up the city’s creative scene ahead of next week’s Salone del Mobile

Milan's newly muscled MiArt, the city's annual contemporary and modern art fair, has proven that its relaunch last year was no one-time fluke. In its second season under the artistic direction of Vincenzo de Bellis, the spry, young founder of Peep-Hole Gallery, the art fair has successfully metamorphosised into a proper five-day event that crawls across Milan's corners.
See the highlights from MiArt
De Bellis's big idea - which seems simple but actually isn't in a fractured country like Italy - was to unite the activity of every art door in the city. This means not only was there a proper fair inside the vaulted halls of the city's ex-fiera (featuring contemporary art and design galleries plus a selection of emerging artists) but every major gallery and public-art institution in town was coaxed into coordinating its spring openings in one big art bang.
This is not just good for customers and the general public at large - the snap of energy also bodes well for this normally fragmented and disorganised city. MiArt certainly lived up to its 2014 title, The Spring Awakening, reinvigorating Milan ahead of the Salone del Mobile.
Receive our daily digest of inspiration, escapism and design stories from around the world direct to your inbox.
JJ Martin
-
The best of refillable beauty design, edited by Wallpaper*
Wallpaper’s pick of the best refillable beauty design includes make-up, skincare, fragrance and haircare with beautifully formed bottles, tubes and containers from the likes of Dries Van Noten, Davines and more
-
Wear Shihara’s minimalist strands of pearls and gold clasps however you see fit
Shihara gives a lesson in minimalist pearl jewellery with new collection ‘Node’
-
Alice Adams, Louise Bourgeois, and Eva Hesse delve into art’s ‘uckiness’ at The Courtauld
New exhibition ‘Abstract Erotic’ (until 14 September 2025) sees artists experiment with the grotesque
-
O Milano! Design's epic annual spectacle in photos
Call us biased, but we believe that Milan Design Week is, at this moment in time, the greatest show on earth
-
For its 24th edition, Triennale Milano's International Exhibition examines the theme of ‘Inequality’
The design institution shines a light on events such as the Grenfell disaster, climate crises and the Israel-Hamas war through architecture, art, products, technology and data
-
‘Romantic brutalism’ rethinks Polish craft
An exhibition in Warsaw gives local makers their due, looking inside the burgeoning world of Polish design
-
Eight designers to know from Rossana Orlandi Gallery’s Milan Design Week 2025 exhibition
Wallpaper’s highlights from the mega-exhibition at Rossana Orlandi Gallery include some of the most compelling names in design today
-
Bentley’s new home collections bring the ‘potency’ of its cars to Milan Design Week
New furniture, accessories and picnic pieces from Bentley Home take cues from the bold lines and smooth curves of Bentley Motors
-
StoneX partners with Wallpaper* for material alchemy at Milan Design Week and beyond
The natural stone purveyor teams up with Wallpaper* for a three-year partnership of material adventures, starting with an exhibition at Triennale di Milano
-
David Rockwell’s Milan Design Week presentation is a love letter to cork
Rockwell Group’s Casa Cork installation showcases this under-appreciated material, which is infinitely recyclable and sequesters carbon for decades
-
Emerging galleries to discover during Milan Design Week
Wallpaper’s Milan editor has the inside track on the younger design galleries coming to town