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One, Five,...

One, Five, Twelve. Eighty Years of Premio Strega
Curated by Maria Luisa Frisa and Mario Lupano

29.04__30.08.2026
One, Five, Twelve. Eighty Years of Premio Strega is an exhibition curated by Maria Luisa Frisa and Mario Lupano, conceived and produced by the Bellonci Foundation and Strega, promoted by the Assessorato alla Cultura di Roma Capitale and Azienda Speciale Palaexpo, and organised in collaboration with BPER Banca, Persol and the Camera Nazionale della Moda Italiana.
One, Five, Twelve. Eighty Years of Premio Strega Curated by Maria Luisa Frisa and Mario Lupano29 April__30 August 2026
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The exhibition traces the history of the renowned award from 1947 to the present day, exploring the role of the literary prize as a seismograph and promoter of the country’s cultural and linguistic changes.  
  
The exhibition design by the architectural studio Supervoid, together with the graphic design by the studio Caneva-Nishimoto, showcases the various layers of reading that the long history of the Strega Prize offers to visitors, presenting the ‘ideal library’ composed of over a thousand volumes selected from 1947 to the present day, organised in a chronological sequence that recounts, in parallel, the events, protagonists, debates and media narratives that have accompanied the seventy-nine editions held to date. The prize’s timeline displays, for each year, the shortlisted books, the final five and the winner in their first editions, in line with a contemporary sensibility that recognises publishing as an art form.


PREMIO STREGA was established in 1947 by the writer Maria Bellonci and thanks to the patronage of Guido Alberti, taking its name from the liqueur produced by his family’s company. In post-war Italy, the concept of creating a new prize that would contribute to the country’s cultural renaissance through a broad and democratic jury began to take shape. This led to the creation of the ‘Amici della domenica’ group, which, together with numerous other readers in Italy and abroad, still awards the prize today through two rounds of voting: the first, in June, to select the five finalists; the second, in July, to choose the winner. Since its beginning, Premio Strega has been a marker of the cultural climate and literary tastes of Italians. The winning books tell the story of Italy, documenting its language, changes and traditions.