TAM – Tower Art Museum to be the first contemporary art institution in Matera

Born from the passion of a small group of young locals, the TAM – Tower Art Museum will be the first of its kind to open in the wonderful Southern Italian city of Matera. The museum is named after the location that will host it, a medieval tower within the neighborhood of Matera’s Sassi, where its director Mauro Acito and his team aim to create a production centre open to artists from all over the world. In their vision, TAM will be home to a wide programme of artistic residencies and exhibitions, all connected to the local culture, and the materials from this land, such as iron, glass, paper mache, and tuff. The pieces produced during the residencies will then be acquired by the museum, becoming part of an ever-growing permanent collection.

Matera-born Acito conceived the project after studying Management for the Arts in Northern Italy. He decided to come back to his birthplace to contribute, together with a small group of under-30 locals like him, to the building of a new image of the city, today Unesco heritage and a popular touristic destination but with a complicated history behind its back. The museum’s first installment will involve the crew Canemorto, a leading presence in the contemporary underground art scenario, the American artist Momo, and the Studio Antani collective.