Polytropon Arts Center, the new hub dedicated to contemporary art in Florence

Alfredo Pirri inaugurates the new spaces with the site-specific exhibition ‘Quello che avanza’ (What Remains)

A few kilometers from Florence, contemporary art has found a new home. In a former industrial complex in San Francesco (Pelago), on the banks of the Sieve River, the Polytropon Arts Centre has been created, under the artistic direction of Andrea Cavallari, a key figure on the international contemporary scene.

In recent years, Florence has strengthened its role in the contemporary art world, combining its historical heritage with a program capable of dialoguing with the present. The major exhibition projects of the Fondazione Palazzo Strozzi and the research and promotion work of the Museo Novecento have contributed to redefining the city's cultural identity, making it a reference point for contemporary art in Italy. It is in this context that the Polytropon Arts Centre has been established, broadening the horizon by taking experimentation beyond the urban center and rooting it in the territory.

POLYTROPON Arts Centre

The centre's name, echoing Homer, is already a statement of intent: Polytropon, ‘many ways, many paths’. A manifesto that embraces the plurality of languages — from visual arts to contemporary music, from theatrical performances to conferences, from wellness practices to food and wine culture. Not just an exhibition space, but a place of crossing, where art, thought, body, and relationship find multiple forms of dialogue Located 13 kilometers from Florence, Polytropon Arts Centre has two versatile spaces—the gallery and the project room—designed to host exhibitions, workshops, concerts, and performances, supporting local and international artists. The goal is to create a sustainable, non-profit hub dedicated to multidisciplinary experimentation: a true laboratory for the future, where tradition and innovation come together to strengthen the social fabric of the territory and open up to the global scene. The Centre is located in a charming industrial complex near the Medici Bridge: originally a mill and fulling mill, it was later transformed into a spinning mill and remained active until the late 1960s. Today, this memory is being revived thanks to the vision of founder Maria Papadaki Badanjak and Polytropon Association President Claudio Cantella, restoring a place full of identity and potential to the area.

The curatorial vision is entrusted to Andrea Cavallari, an Italian-American composer and artist, former director of Firenze Suona Contemporanea. With a cosmopolitan perspective gained in London and Tokyo, Cavallari embodies the very essence of Polytropon: a space without disciplinary boundaries, capable of connecting music, visual arts, and performance. His direction represents not only artistic guidance but also a strategic bridge between the local community and international networks of experimentation.

The inauguration of the Center is entrusted to Alfredo Pirri, a leading figure on the international art scene, with the exhibition Quello che avanza (What Remains), open from March 1 to June 21. The artist presents a site-specific architectural and poetic intervention designed specifically for Polytropon Arts Center. His multidisciplinary practice, which ranges from installation to urban intervention, explores the dialogue between the built and the perceived, transforming space into an immersive experience and inviting the public to reflect on the relationship between historical memory and lived space.
The exhibition is accompanied by a dynamic and multidisciplinary spring season: musical performances, theatrical actions, and encounters that connect the local community with the international avant-garde. This program makes Polytropon Arts Centre a new reference point for contemporary culture in the Florence area. The first part of the season will end on June 21, 2026, and resume in September, confirming the Centre's ambition: to be a space for research, dialogue, and transformation, where many paths and many ways can continue to meet.

Alfredo Pirri, Cianotipie

Programming

Spring 2026

March 1, 2026, from 12:00 p.m. ALFREDO PIRRI | Quello che avanza (What Remains) Free admission exhibition until June 21, 2026 Vernissage and official opening of the Center Site-specific installation premiering for the first time, conceived and produced for Polytropon Arts Centre.

March 7, 3:00 p.m. – 6:00 p.m. ALFREDO PIRRI | Workshop and Masterclass Path

March 15, 6:00 p.m. – paid event LA FABBRICA ILLUMINATA | Tribute to Luigi Nono Giulia Peri (voice) Roberto Fabbriciani (flutes) Michele Greco (sound) Program:
La Fabbrica Illuminata (1964)
Das atmende Klarsein,
fragment (1981)

April 19, 6:00 p.m. – paid event RECITAL | Bruno Canino & Vincenzo Pasquariello Music by Berio, Sciarrino, Stockhausen, and Schubert.

May 17, 6:00 p.m. – paid event IL GIARDINO ZEN | Recital by Francesco Dillon Music by N. Ioide, N. Evangelisti, E. Ishibashi, K. Harada.

June 20, 10:00 a.m. – 6:00 p.m. GREGORIO NARDI | Workshop and Masterclass Piano masterclass open to young musicians from the area.

June 21, 9:00 p.m. …A FLUXUS NIGHT… | Everything can become music Finissage of the exhibition by Alfredo Pirri Theater and sound performance inspired by Fluxus artists. Event involving Via del Molino and Ponte Mediceo.