Tomorrows/Today Art Walk with Curator Dr Mariella Franzoni

A guided Art Walk with Dr Mariella Franzoni, the curator of the 2026 edition of Tomorrows/Today.

The Tomorrows/Today cash prize, sponsored by Fiera Milano Exhibitions Africa, will be awarded by a panel of art professionals to the artist with the highest quality presentation.

Dr Mariella Franzoni is a curator, researcher, and cultural manager specializing in contemporary art. She holds an academic background in Social Anthropology (Alma Mater Studiorum – University of Bologna), Cultural Economics (Bocconi University, Milan), and Art Theory and Philosophy (Pompeu Fabra University, Barcelona).

She earned her PhD in Humanities from Pompeu Fabra University and the University of the Western Cape (Cape Town), with a dissertation titled The Economy of the Curatorial and the Fields of the Contemporary Art World (2019), which explores the intersections between curatorship, the art market, and value formation in contemporary art from a critical and global perspective, with a particular focus on post-apartheid South Africa.

Over the past fifteen years, she has worked as an independent professional across Spain, Italy, and South Africa, combining research, curating, and cultural management. Her extensive experience includes roles as curator, artistic and executive director, project coordinator, and university lecturer. She regularly shares her knowledge through talks, panels, and workshops, and complements her curatorial practice with strong engagement in cultural management—building connections between artists, institutions, galleries, and collectors, and fostering meaningful synergies within the contemporary art ecosystem.

Throughout her career, she has collaborated with leading institutions such as MACBA (Museum and Foundation), the Centre Pompidou and Kandinsky Library (Paris), CDAN (Huesca), JAG – Johannesburg Art Gallery, LagosPhoto Festival (Nigeria), the African Art in Venice Forum (Venice Biennale), Loop Festival, and Barcelona Gallery Weekend, as well as galleries including Joan Prats, Senda, ADN, Ana Mas Projects, SMAC Gallery, Everard Read, Goodman Gallery, and P420, amogst others.

She is currently the guest curator of Tomorrows/Today at the Investec Cape Town Art Fair (2023–2026), an international and independent section focused on emerging artistic practices and cross-geographic dialogue, particularly between South Africa and the global scene.

She also serves as Artistic and Executive Director of the fifth and sixth editions of By Invitation, the art salon of the Círculo Ecuestre de Barcelona, where she has led a major curatorial shift, placing intergenerational dialogue and the visibility of female voices from the Spanish art scene at the center of the project.