The Museo d'Arte della Svizzera Italiana was created in 2015 as a result of the union between the Museo Cantonale d’Arte and the Museo d’Arte della Città di Lugano, establishing itself as a meeting point between Latin and Germanic Europe, offering a series of exhibitions enriched by a programme of cultural mediation. The Collezione Giancarlo e Danna Olgiati, which is also part of the MASI circuit, is one of the most important collections of contemporary art, comprised of more than 200 works.

The art on display is set out in the two branches of the MASI, one at the LAC cultural centre and the other one at the historical Palazzo Reali, composed of a series of buildings constructed from the second half of the 15th century and restructured in 2019. Both occupying three floors, the exhibition spaces of the two museum - 1,900 m‎‏² the first and 900 m² the second - host both permanent exhibitions and temporary projects. One project is “Rovine”, the first large-scale European solo show by Nicolas Party, which until 9 January 2022 has transformed the museum's exhibitin space into an alienating and immersive universe, with site-specific murals, polychromatic sculptures and pastels.

Equally important is "Big paintings by me with small paintings by others" dedicated, until 22 February, to Albert Ohelen, one of the greatest exponents of contemporary experimentation in the field of painting.

Opening image:  the museum's historic venue, Palazzo Reali, in downtown Lugano