Mestre opens Muvec at Centro Candiani: a new home for contemporary art | inItaly | True Italian Experience

Muvec: a contemporary art museum at Centro Candiani

Mestre has launched Muvec – Casa delle Contemporaneità, a new museum of modern and contemporary art housed in the Centro Culturale Candiani after a refurbishment worth five million euros. The project aims to make civic collections more accessible and to create a conversation between mid-20th-century art and today’s practices.

What to see

The permanent itinerary spans from the postwar years to the present and is organised around three thematic strands:

• Rebuild: works connected to the optimism and reconstruction after WWII (e.g. pieces by Emilio Vedova).
• Build: investigations into space and materiality through geometry and structure (references to Gastone Novelli and Arnaldo Pomodoro).
• Deconstruct: contemporary practices that question present-day certainties (including works by Michelangelo Pistoletto and Claudio Parmiggiani).

Temporary exhibitions and site-specific projects complement the permanent collection, with works by international artists such as Tony Cragg, Bill Viola, Chen Zhen, Vanessa Beecroft and Marlene Dumas.

Architecture and accessibility

The building is marked by a thirteen-metre luminous tower overlooking Piazzale Candiani. Visitors enter via an elevated, lobster-coloured walkway that leads to the galleries. Interiors are designed for comfort and interaction, featuring generous seating, warm lighting and clear circulation paths.

Current programmes and upcoming shows

• The venue hosts the tenth edition of the Premio Mestre di Pittura until 7 June 2026.
• From September, the museum will present exhibitions focused on Vienna Secession masters such as Klimt, Schiele and Kokoschka.

Visitor information

• Location: Centro Culturale Candiani, Piazzale Candiani, Mestre.
• Opening hours: open every day except Monday, 10:00–18:00.
• Tickets: included in the combined ticket with Ca’ Pesaro and the Museo Fortuny.
• Languages: the entrance displays the 21 languages most spoken by local communities to welcome diverse audiences.

Why visit

Muvec is conceived as a transgenerational museum: a place where works reflect the social and urban transformations of Mestre and invite visitors to consider what it means to belong to contemporary society. The museum brings civic collections into everyday urban life, increasing access and cultural participation in the mainland area.