BERGAMO.- Pedagogy of Hope: Towards a museum of learning
After dedicating its 2024-25 program to exploring new curatorial formats in the fields of cultural production and artistic heritage — through the long-term projects Thinking Like a Mountain and Galassia — in 2026 GAMeC will continue its experimental path leading to the opening of its new building, devoting the entire year to the theme of education, viewed as shared learning and a tool for emancipation and social transformation.
What knowledge, skills, and critical abilities are needed to understand and transform contemporary reality? What pedagogical practices and approaches foster autonomy, responsibility, and critical thinking, even in contexts that “educate” us automatically through algorithms and digital flows? How can dialogic and participatory processes integrate with museums’ disciplinary expertise? And how can the needs of diverse audiences be brought together and valorized in order to construct inclusive and innovative cultural narratives and educational practices? In other words, educate for what? And how?
Under the direction of Lorenzo Giusti, GAMeC’s 2026 program stems from these questions, drawing inspiration from the thinking of Brazilian educator Paulo Freire, offering a reinterpretation and update of his ideas.
A permanent laboratory: education, dialogue, sharing
The core of the 2026 program will be the interdisciplinary Public Program, featuring contributions from experts in pedagogy, case study analyses, and contributions from artists engaged in integrating visual research with educational practices, as well as workshops dedicated to experimenting with new methodologies and strengthening relationships with the local community. The dialogue between humanistic and techno-scientific culture will be a cross-cutting feature of the program, inspired by Freirean pedagogy.
Fosbury Architecture at Palazzo della Ragione
During the summer, Palazzo della Ragione in Bergamo will host a site-specific installation by Fosbury Architecture. Known for its multidisciplinary practice — ranging from the reuse of existing buildings to temporary installations, exhibition design, publishing projects, curatorial activities, and educational programs — the collective will transform the space into a modular landscape, designed to welcome different audiences and adapt to the various cultural activities shaping this year’s program: not merely an exhibition display but an active platform inviting reflection on education as a relational device.
Ana Silva and Selma Selman at Spazio Zero
Two exhibitions by international artists will be presented in GAMeC’s Spazio Zero, opening respectively on February 25 and October 1. The project by Angolan-Portuguese artist Ana Silva (Calulo, 1979) addresses the global crisis of access to drinking water. Conceived for the exhibition space, it is developed in collaboration with a network of local embroiderers, invited by the artist to intervene in some of her textile works. In the production of her pieces, Silva initially entrusts the subjects she designs to Angolan embroiderers — where only men are allowed to use sewing machines — before completing the works herself by hand, adding decorative elements. The language of embroidery — traditionally associated with care, memory, and resistance — is employed by Silva to delicately denounce water scarcity and reveal a reality in which water is a privilege rather than a right. Each stitch silently bears witness to a fundamental need that is denied, emphasizing the contrast between the delicate gesture of embroidery and the dramatic nature of the subject.
The site-specific project by Bosnia and Herzegovina-born Romani artist and activist Selma Selman (Bihać, 1991) continues her exploration drawing on personal and family experiences to investigate identity, social hierarchies, and conflicts among different forms of knowledge, revealing the gaps between official narratives and oral traditions. For Selman, art represents a form of resistance and sharing. Her work is based on the “learn to unlearn” principle, opening new horizons of understanding and creating spaces in which to experiment with alternative ways of knowing. For the artist, education also represents a tool of emancipation and self-determination, especially in patriarchal contexts such as that of her community of origin. This led her to establish the “Get the Heck to School” foundation in 2017, through which she provides financial support to Romani girls to enable them to complete primary school.
Radio GAMeC and new activities for the public
Radio GAMeC will continue its activities with a new platform dedicated to education. Through the voices of artists, researchers, and professionals working in the field of education, the radio will offer narratives and dialogues on contemporary artistic and educational practices, confirming itself as a place for reflection and exchange open to new perspectives.
Throughout the year, workshops as well as guided and thematic tours dedicated both to temporary exhibitions and the museum’s Collections will involve visitors in shared learning experiences, adopting new experimental practices, thus strengthening GAMeC’s role as an educational hub in the Bergamo territory.
