Rimini, capital of seaside tourism, is running for the title of Italian Capital of Culture 2026. Is it a contradiction? Maybe it is, but Rimini has always played with its contradictions. The city has designed its own future starting from the tension of contrasting elements, by mixing high and low culture, traditional and pop aesthetics and succeeding in the challenge of creating and anticipating trends.

Rimini is best known for its seaside and clubs, but it has always been so much more: a city of the Imperial Rome, of the Middle Age, of the Renaissance, the city of Federico Fellini…  In the past 15 years, some profound transformations have redrawn the boundaries between these different dimensions, not only by enhancing the existing artistic and architectural heritage and creating new cultural containers and new contents, but also by redesigning the seafront area, to ensure a new urban quality and a new environmental well-being.

A transformation path which is leading to the candidature as Italian Capital of Culture 2026 through opening the city’s horizons to national and international creativity.  For this purpose, the Municipality of Rimini has announced a selection to identify the three artistic directors of the project.

The deadline for submitting the application is 2 april 2023.

Here the three Open call:

1) Enhancement and promotion of cultural heritage
Enhancement and promotion of cultural heritage as a system of physical and intangible spaces, with special reference to the relationship between historic environments and temporary arrangements, as  well as settings through the use of digital tools

2) Cultural production
Cultural production (performing arts activities, curating and promotion of contemporary art, visual & performing arts) and promotion of contemporary digital productions

3) Production and dissemination of scientific and technical culture
Production and dissemination of scientific and technical culture and participatory production (citizen science based) of content related to the fields of STEAM (Science Technology Engineering Art Mathematics)

All the information here.