"The future of the past is in the future, the future of the present is in the past, the future of the future is in the present" wrote John McHale in 1969, in his famous book The future of the future. The father of Futurology did not believe that there was only one possible future, but many more or less probable scenarios and that each era carried its own idea of the future.

Our age seems to have lost the ability to look forward, stuck as it is in a state of "extreme present". In this delicate historical phase it is more important than ever to regain and train our capacity for imagination and long-term planning. This is why art and culture play a crucial role today.

The exhibition "Future. Art and society from the Sixties to tomorrow", curated by Luca Beatrice and Walter Guadagnini, offers a reflection on the concept of the future through art, starting from the Sixties – the McHale era – to the present day. It goes from the decade of economic boom, optimism and consumerism to that of late capitalism, permanent crises and the fight against the there is no alternative motto.

The exhibition at the Gallerie d'Italia – Palazzo Leoni Montanari, Intesa Sanpaolo's museum in Vicenza, brings together about one hundred works by Italian and international artists such as Boccioni, Fontana, Christo, Boetti, Rotella, Warhol, Lichtenstein, Rauschenberg, Schifano, Hirst, from important private collections and the Intesa Sanpaolo collection.

Michele Coppola, Executive Director of Arte Cultura e Beni Storici, says: "Talking about the future right now is very important and doing so through art and culture is perhaps the best way. The exhibition brings together 20th century masterpieces and works by young artists who talk about the future in different ways, but always projected forward, always setting the imagination in motion. The starting point is once again our collections of modern and contemporary art linked to national and international loans. The Gallerie d'Italia in Vicenza starts again from our collection in dialogue with the world, confirming itself as a place of reference for the city, where to meet and deepen the themes and art of the present".

"The Future is the present", "the Future is the political", "the Future is success", "the Future is the post-human", "the Future is the environment" are the five sections of the exhibition, each representing a decade of our recent history. The exhibition is complemented by a series of activities for the public: art walks, thematic itineraries, activities for families, creative writing workshops and performances using new technologies, free educational paths for schools.

The exhibition, which will remain open until 7 February 2021, aims to analyse visions of the past and present to help build a future that is still to be written.