Museum History
MA*GA Museum is one of the most relevant Italian contemporary art museums. The museum's identity is intertwined with the history of the Premio Gallarate, founded in 1949 and still active today. The Museum, officially established in 1966 with the name of Civic Gallery of Modern Art of Gallarate, was born thanks to artworks acquired during the first eight editions of the Prize. A turning point in the history of the museum is 2009, in which the city of Gallarate establishes the "Fondazione Galleria d’Arte Moderna e Contemporanea Silvio Zanella" foundedy by the City of Gallarate, the Ministry of Culture, Region Lombardia and the Province of Varese. In March 2010, the Museum acquires the name MA*GA - Gallarate Art Museum and inaugurates the new location.
In the ten years of the Foundation's life, a series of relevant projects have characterized the museum’ activity, in a perspective of constant attention to the artistic Italian culture, in dialogue with international institutions, both in a historical sense and through a constant look at the contemporary world.
This is a look that opens up to multiple areas of contemporary culture, from literature to performing arts, from design to fashion. An example of this multidisciplinary approach is the Sala Arazzi Ottavio Missoni.
The Museum is recognized by the Lombardy Region since 2004 and member of AMACI since 2007, since 2018 the MA * GA has been recognized by the MIC Cultural Institute of National Relevance and by the Lombardy Region as a "Subject of regional importance". From 2021 together with the Municipality of Gallarate opens HIC - Hub of the Cultural Institutes of the City of Gallarate in which a new large library, for study and research alongside the exhibition spaces, in an innovative perspective of inclusion of knowledge and interdisciplinarity.

The Foundation
The Fondazione Galleria d’Arte Moderna e Contemporanea Silvio Zanella, established on 30 November 2009 by the City of Gallarate and the Ministry of Culture as founding members, and by the Lombardy Region and the Province of Varese as co-founding members, takes its name from the creator and first director of the Museum.
Inserted as a public entity in the ISTAT, the Foundation curates, manages, enhances and increases the contemporary art collections of the City of Gallarate and its museum, and supports the development of important artistic and curatorial projects; pays particular attention to accessibility and educational projects; dialogues with companies to increase collaboration between cultural and entrepreneurial realities; contributes to the establishment of cultural projects in a network with other prestigious institutions aimed at broad territorial enhancement.
Premio Gallarate
The National Prize for Visual Arts of the City of Gallarate is an institution that since 1949, the year of its foundation, has marked the cultural landscape of Italian art. Its national and international relevance is documented not only by the importance of the participants in its twenty-six editions, both as critics and curators, from Roberto Longhi to Lea Vergine, and as artists, from Emilio Vedova to Gianni Colombo, from Carol Rama to Grazia Varisco , but also from a series of important initiatives: national and international exhibitions and moments of study, hosted by institutions such as the Milan Triennale or the Italian Cultural Institute in London.

About us
Città di Gallarate
Ministero della Cultura
Co-Founding Members
Regione Lombardia
Provincia di Varese
Chairman
Angelo Lorenzo Crespi
Director
Emma Zanella
Board of management
Angelo Lorenzo Crespi, Presidente
Mauro Croci
Luigi Mascheroni
Francesco Tedeschi
Technical and scientific committee
Andrea Cassani, Presidente
Roberto Delodovici
Marina Figini
Paolo Alberto Lamberti
Giovanni Orsini
Lindsay Ruth Harris
Emma Zanella
Auditor
Guido Senaldi
Conservation Department
conservazione@museomaga.it
Alessandro Castiglioni, senior curator and deputy director
Laura Carrù, Collections coordinator
Daniela Costantini, Cataloguer
Exhibitions, Events and Communication
mostre@museomaga.it
Vittoria Broggini, Conservatore curator
comunicazione@museomaga.it
Federica Crespi
Marketing, Private Events
eventi@museomaga.it
Martina Colombo
Archivi del Contemporaneo
archividelcontemporaneo@museomaga.it
Monica Maria Faccini
Educational Department
didattica@museomaga.it
Lorena Giuranna, Head
Childhood and families staff
Marika Brocca
Elena Scandroglio
Elena Borri
Adult staff
Francesca Chiara
Francesca Checchi
Library
biblioteca@museomaga.it
Secretarial and administration staff
amministrazione@museomaga.it
Monica Colombo
Security and reception
Giacomo Zaniboni, Head
Alberto Vernale
Monica Ghiraldini
Sofia Mele
Michela Morelli
Accrochage
Giacomo Zaniboni
Administration
Studio Trotti
Design studio
MMG S.r.l., Gallarate
Press office
CLP, Milano
Digital Strategy
Social media management
MMG S.r.l., Gallarate
social@museomaga.it
Erika La Rosa
Bookshop
Marina Bianchi
Ticket office
Laura Zocchi
TicketOne
Tax Advisor
Studio Trotti, Busto Arsizio
Labor consultant
Cepas S.r.l. STP, Busto Arsizio
MagaBar
La Contea di Simone Colombo
Surveillance service
IVNG, Gallarate
Cleaning services
Nia Kurniasih
Olexandra Zaliska
Photo Credits
Miriam Broggini, Marco Guariglia, Roberto Marossi, Matteo Donati, Fabrizio Marchesi, Walter Capelli, Marco Marangoni, Giovara Tecnifoto Gallarate
Video production
VideoForArt