Bizhan Bassiri is the founder and president of the Foundation. Born in Teheran in 1954, he left Iran for Rome in 1975 and now lives between Rome, Tuscany, and Umbria.
Bizhan Bassiri’s artistic research develops through the use of different materials and techniques: surfaces made from papier-mâché, and from steel and bronze, lava stone elements, and photographic image processing. He is the author of Pensiero Magmatico (1984) and of the Manifesto del Pensiero Magmatico (1984 – 2021).
He began exhibiting in 1981, participating in solo and group shows. His work has been shown in numerous museums and cultural institutions including the Kunsthalle, Vienna (Austria); Museum van Hedendaagse Kunst, Ghent (Belgium); Centre d’Art Contemporain, Thiers (France); Borholms Kunstmuseum, Borholms (Denmark); Centro per l’Arte Contemporanea Luigi Pecci, Prato; Arsaevi, Collegiumartisticum, Sarajevo (Bosnia); the French Academy in Rome, Villa Medici; Museo Archeologico Nazionale di Napoli; Tophane-i Amire culture and Art Centre, Istanbul (Turkey); S.M.A.K, Stedelijk Museum voor Actuele Kunst, Ghent (Belgium); Galleria Nazionale dell’Umbria, Perugia; Sala dei Cinquecento, Palazzo Vecchio, Florence; Tehran Contemporary Art Museum, Tehran; Macro Testaccio, Rome; Ca’ Pesaro – Galleria Internazionale d’Arte Moderna, Venice.
In 2017, he was the sole artist invited to represent Iran at the 57th Biennale of Venice with the exhibition Tapesh. The Golden Reserve of Magmatic Thought.
Co-founder, she is both vice president and director general of the Foundation.
Camilla Cionini Visani is from Milan and graduated in International Relations from the Bocconi University, Milan. She was Director of International Affairs for Confindustria, dealing with policies and processes encouraging enterprise internationalization as well as consolidating relations with governments, Italian and foreign ministries. Previously she has held management roles at SACE – Gruppo Cassa Depositi e Prestiti in Rome and at the Deutsche Bank and Schroders in London. She is currently Director General at ItaliaFintech in addition to holding non-executive roles in leading companies like Alba Leasing, Solution Bank, and Coima Sgr. A lover of art, music, and culture, she is currently an Honorary Member of the Accademia Chigiana, Siena.
President of Museo Pecci di Prato, former President of Fondazione Palazzo Strozzi, Florence, as well as President of Société Generale, economist, former member of the Executive Board of the European Central Bank. Author of several books and Visiting Scholar at Harvard University.
President of the Scientific Committee of the Bassiri Foundation. Art critic and historian, he is currently President of the Foundation Palazzo Albizzini Collezione Burri.
In the 1980s, she founded COIMA Image, an Architecture, Interior Design and Space Planning studio that boasts a long track record in the design of offices and residences and in integrated architectural design.
Vice President of the Riccardo Catella Foundation, dedicated to her husband Riccardo who, with COIMA REM, gave rise to the Porta Nuova Project in Milan. The Foundation develops projects linked to the territory and to all sustainable practices to protect the environment.
Board member at the Teatro dell’Opera, Rome, and former member of the governing body of the Biennale di Venezia as well as President and Founder of Comin & Partners. Former Director of Communications and Institutional Relations for Enel. Lecturer in Communication Strategies at the Luiss “Guido Carli” University; author of several books on communication.
Board member at the Galleria nazionale di Arte Moderna, Rome, Co-founder and vice president at Comin & Partners, former director of communications at the Biennale di Venezia.
Psychology lecturer at the University of Tehran, psychoanalyst and author. Member of the International Psychoanalytic Association and of the American Psychoanalytic Association.
Vice President of Museo MADRE, Naples, entrepreneur and Vice President of the Board of Directors of the Magaldi Group.
Mayor of the City of Fabro.
Lawyer and partner at Bonelli Erede, coordinating the Banking and Finance Department, former president of banks and publicly-listed companies, currently President of the Board of Directors of the Banca Centrale di San Marino, of the Conseil de Surveillance at the concession company for the Nice, Cannes, and Saint Tropez airports, and member of the Board of Directors of the Rome Chamber of Commerce.
Founder of the accountancy firm of the same name in Ravenna with extensive experience in dealing with art foundations. He was a member of the audit committee of the MAXXI Foundation from 2014 to 2019.
Art critic and historian, President of Fondazione Burri, Città di Castello.
President of Jannis Kounellis Archive, Rome.
Lecturer in Art History at the Paris Nanterre University. , his publications include The Big Gallery of sculptures, Paris, Centre Pompidou / Louvre / Orsay (2005), Giacometti / Genet. Mask and modern portrait, Paris, Vilo (2006), Dalì. Double image, double life, Paris, Hazan (2012), and Modigliani (Paris, Citadelles Mazenod, 2020).
Director emeritus at the Bornholm Art Museum, Denmark. Curator of numerous exhibitions, both at national and international level. His books on museology, graphic art, painting, and sculpture have been published in several languages. He is currently head of the Board of Directors and founding director of the Bornholm Biennials.
Composer, artistic director, cultural manager, and journalist. Since 2015, he has been the artistic director of the Fondazione Accademia Musicale Chigiana.
Iranian Canadian Art Curator graduated from OCAD University, Toronto, Majored in Art Critic & Curatorial Practice. Currently focusing on Iranian Contemporary art.
