The 77th Michetti Prize

was unanimously awarded to the duo Eva & Franco Mattes for the work Are You Still There? (2025), a video generated with artificial intelligence that addresses with irony and critical depth the transformations of identity, surveillance and power dynamics within the digital ecosystem.

The jury motivated its choice as follows: "For the pioneering research that interweaves media art, performance, installation and network practices; for the critical rigour with which they investigate the transformations of identity, image, surveillance and power dynamics in the digital cosmovision; and for the ability to combine irony, conceptual depth, formal innovation and emotional dimension in addressing some of the central issues of contemporary times, expanding the boundaries of artistic practices."

The jury awarded a special mention to Danilo

Correale for Equivalent Units (2017), recognising his creative sensibility and interdisciplinary rigour in analysing the transformations of labour, contemporary economies and social structures. Through video, installations and participatory practices, Correale develops a body of research capable of translating deeply rooted real-world experiences into a critical reflection on the present.

The award ceremony inaugurated Cosmovisions,

the exhibition of the 77th edition of the Prize, open until 13 September at the Museo Michetti in Francavilla al Mare (Chieti).

Curated by Nicolas Bourriaud and Massimiliano Scuderi,

the exhibition brings together 20 Italian and international artists with 48 works including installations, videos and multimedia pieces that reflect on the transformations introduced by artificial intelligence, robotics and digital technologies, questioning the relationship between innovation, the human ecosystem and the natural environment.

Founded in 1947, the Michetti Prize is one of the most authoritative awards dedicated to contemporary art in Italy and the second longest-running after the Venice Biennale. For nearly eighty years it has accompanied the evolution of national and international artistic research, confirming itself as a place of dialogue between languages, visions and generations.

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