Casoria Contemporary Art Museum

The Casoria Contemporary Art Museum, commonly known as CAM, is a center for the research, production, and exhibition of contemporary art located in Casoria within the Metropolitan City of Naples, Italy. Founded in 2005, the institution serves as an experimental laboratory and a gateway to global contemporary expression, operating independently of commercial art market influences. It holds a permanent collection of approximately one thousand works by international artists, encompassing painting, sculpture, photography, and digital media. The museum has garnered significant international attention for its confrontational stance against government austerity measures, most notably through its 2012 Art War protest, while simultaneously functioning as a vital cultural hub for the Campania region.

The museum project originated in 2003 through an initiative by the Municipality of Casoria and the Campania Region, aimed at local revitalization under the banner Una città per l'arte. Antonio Manfredi, a local artist and advocate for international contemporary art, was appointed to lead the project as president of the cultural association International Contemporary Art Center. The museum officially opened in May 2005. In its early years, CAM expanded its programming through numerous international exhibitions, workshops, and symposiums, and in 2011 it organized the Campania regional pavilion for the 54th Venice Biennale. In April 2012, the institution launched its Art War campaign, a protest against severe Italian government funding cuts to cultural institutions. Director Antonio Manfredi began publicly burning artworks from the collection, starting with a piece by French artist Severine Bourguignon who had consented to the destruction. Approximately 150 artists supported the initiative by donating works to be incinerated, with the resulting ashes placed in urns to symbolize the death of culture. The museum halted the destruction amid public outcry and partial concessions, though the event drew global attention to the fiscal pressures on peripheral arts venues in southern Italy.

The permanent collection comprises roughly one thousand works by artists from approximately eighty different countries, showcasing a wide array of contemporary artistic languages including painting, sculpture, photography, and digital art. CAM places a particular emphasis on multimedia and digital art, having built one of the richest international collections in this field within just a few years of its founding. Other notable concentrations include contemporary African art, Oriental art, and Balkan works. The museum also maintains a strong regional focus, dedicating a section to Neapolitan art from the second postwar period to the present. The collection is displayed in rotation, and the museum frequently juxtaposes works by established masters with those of emerging or unknown artists, prioritizing global diversity and territorial expression over commercial viability.

Beyond its core permanent collection, the museum features a Sculpture Park situated in the adjacent municipal park, which displays a permanent exhibition of sculptures and installations realized in 2004. The institution also houses an archive and documentation center containing approximately three thousand texts dedicated to contemporary art research. The ashes of the artworks destroyed during the 2012 Art War protest constitute another distinct holding, preserved in urns as an installation symbolizing the impact of cultural funding cuts. Additionally, the museum has hosted targeted thematic exhibitions such as AfriCAM, Politik, and Censured, with selections of these works remaining on permanent display.

The museum is situated underground, occupying the former utility rooms of a school. The interior consists of a single-level, expansive white open space covering approximately 3,500 square meters. This layout is intentionally free from predetermined visitor routes, allowing for free movement and varied perspectives. The exhibition spaces are divided into areas dedicated to specific media, including painting, sculpture, photography, and multimedia art, alongside designated zones for educational activities, experimental theater, a library, and a bookshop. The museum transforms its physical layout on average every three months as exhibitions change, continually recontextualizing the displayed works.

The Casoria Contemporary Art Museum is located on Via Calore in Casoria, Province of Naples. It operates with variable opening hours throughout the week, closing on Mondays, and offering morning sessions on Tuesdays, Thursdays, and Sundays, and evening sessions on Wednesdays, Fridays, and Saturdays. Standard admission is 5.00 euros, with a 20 percent discount available. The museum runs extensive educational programs aimed at both students and adults, offering guided visits to explain the history and techniques of the collection. It has established collaborative agreements with national and international institutions, including the University of Naples Federico II, the Academy of Fine Arts of Bologna, and the National Institute of Fine Arts of Berlin, and maintains ongoing community events such as the CAM AperiArt series.