Museo sperimentale d’arte contemporanea “Mu.Sp.Ac.”, L’Aquila

The Experimental Museum of Contemporary Art (MU.SP.A.C) opened to the public in 1993 thanks to the Cultural Association “Quarto di Santa Giusta” which set up the first core of the collection inside the former monastery of S. Maria dei Raccomandati. The Association, established by Enrico Sconci in 1984, is interested in the artistic avant-gardes of the 20th century and is characterized from the beginning by a multidisciplinary approach, focused on the anthropological aspects of art. In 1998, when work began in the monastery premises to accommodate the Archaeological Museum of Santa Maria dei Raccomandati, MuSpAC moved to the Baroncelli Cappa Palace. The 2009 earthquake upset L’Aquila and the life of the museum, which managed to move to a new location thanks to the commitment of public and private Abruzzo entities that in 2011 contributed to the construction of a new headquarters in via Ficara, in the Piazza D’Arti building complex.

The museum has a permanent collection including works by internationally renowned artists such as Joseph Beuys, Mario Ceroli, Primo Conti, Christo, Gino De Dominicis, Jannis Kounellis, Eliseo Mattiacci, Fabio Mauri, Mario Merz, Giulio Paolini, Vettor Pisani, Michelangelo Pistoletto.

To these were added the works donated after the 2009 earthquake by artists of the caliber of Gea Casolaro, Franco Mulas, and Tobia Ravà.