Alessandra Acocella is Associate Professor at the University of Parma, where she teaches Contemporary Art History and History of Exhibitions.
She is Chair of the Bachelor’s Degree Programme in Communication and Contemporary Media for the Creative Industries.
She is a member of the Steering Committee of EXHIBIT – Research Centre for the History of Exhibitions, of CAPAS – Centro per le Professioni e le Attività delle Arti e dello Spettacolo of the University of Parma, and of the Luciano Caruso Archive. She is also a member of the Scientific Committee of CSAC – Centro Studi e Archivio della Comunicazione of the University of Parma.
She is a member of the PhD Board in Art History at the University of Siena and the University for Foreigners of Siena.
She is Associated PI of the PRIN PNRR 2022 project Straniere: the reception of non-European arts and cultures in Italy (1945–2000), funded by the Italian Ministry of University and Research and the European Union (NextGeneration EU), and a member of the PRIN 2020 project La fotografia femminista italiana. Politiche identitarie e strategie di genere (Parma Unit).
She is co-Editor-in-Chief of Senzacornice Journal. Studi sul sistema dell'arte contemporanea, and a member of the steering and editorial boards of peer-reviewed academic journals, including Ricerche di S/Confine. Oggetti e pratiche artistico / culturali (University of Parma) and MD Journal (University of Ferrara).
After obtaining her degree in Art History from the University of Florence (2011), she earned a PhD in History and Conservation of Art and Architectural Heritage at Roma Tre University (2015). Between 2015 and 2017 she conducted research on public art for the Directorate-General for Contemporary Art and Architecture and Urban Peripheries of the Italian Ministry of Cultural Heritage (MiBACT). In 2018–2019 she was a research fellow at the Luciano Caruso Archive. Between 2020 and 2021 she was a postdoctoral research fellow at the Department of History, Archaeology, Geography, Art History and Performing Arts of the University of Florence, in connection with the project Arte contemporanea in Toscana, il futuro dell’arte nella storia, carried out in collaboration with the Centro per l’Arte Contemporanea Luigi Pecci.
In December 2020 she obtained the National Scientific Qualification (Abilitazione Scientifica Nazionale) for the position of Associate Professor (second level) in the competition sector 10/B1 – Art History.
In 2021–2022 she was a member of the Scientific Committee of the project Arte e Spazio Pubblico, promoted by the Directorate-General for Contemporary Creativity of the Italian Ministry of Culture and the Fondazione Scuola dei beni e delle attività culturali. She has collaborated and continues to collaborate with archives, art collections, and museum institutions, including: Archivio di Stato di Firenze, Centre Pompidou, Collezione Iannaccone, Galleria dell’Accademia di Firenze, Soprintendenza Archivistica e Bibliografica della Toscana, Fondazione Il Giardino di Daniel Spoerri, Fondazione Museion, Fondazione Palazzo Strozzi, Fondazione Pistoia Musei, Fondazione Ragghianti, MACRO, Museo Marino Marini, Museo Novecento Firenze.
Her research interests focus on art and criticism in the second half of the twentieth century, with particular attention to the avant-gardes of the 1960s and 1970s, the history of exhibitions, art in public spaces, the relationships between visual arts, photography, architecture and design, contemporary art archives, and the reception of non-European arts and cultures in Italy. On these topics she has authored historical and critical essays for edited volumes and peer-reviewed academic journals (including "piano b. Arti e culture visive", "Studiolo", "Studi di Memofonte", "Arabeschi. Rivista internazionale di studi su letteratura e visualità", "Critica d’arte", "Ricerche di S/Confine"), curated exhibitions, and participated in conferences at Italian and international cultural institutions.
She is the author of the monographs Avanguardia diffusa. Luoghi di sperimentazione artistica in Italia 1967–1970 (Fondazione Passaré/Quodlibet, 2016) and Metascritture. Luciano Caruso e Napoli 1963–1976 (Scalpendi, 2020). She has edited the volumes: Arte a Firenze 1970–2015. Una città in prospettiva (Quodlibet, 2016); Luciano Caruso Alchimia degli estremi. Scritti scelti 1964–2002 (Museo Novecento Firenze, 2019); Lara-Vinca Masini Scritti scelti 1961–2019. Arte, Architettura, Design, Arti applicate (Gli Ori, 2020); Pistoia Novecento. Sguardi sull’arte dal secondo dopoguerra / An Overview of the Art of the Post World War II Period (Gli Ori, 2020); Anni Novanta. Arti visive, moda e design (Postmedia, 2024); Mostre fotografiche in Italia negli anni Settanta. Spazi, dialoghi, narrazioni (Postmedia, 2024); Straniere in Italia. La ricezione dal secondo dopoguerra delle arti e culture extraeuropee (Fondazione Passaré/Quodlibet, 2025). She has also co-edited the following monographic issues of peer-reviewed academic journals (classified as Class A by ANVUR): Scritture di immagini. Arti Verbovisuali, dal secondo Novecento a oggi / Image Writing. Verbo-Visual Arts from the Late Twentieth Century to Today for the digital academic journal "piano b. Arti e culture visive" (vol. 5, nos. 1 and 2, 2020); The Musealization of Performance Art. Acquiring, Conserving, Exhibiting, and Reenacting ("Arabeschi. Rivista internazionale di studi su letteratura e visualità", no. 24, 2025).
Scientific Qualifications:
> June 2026: Awarded the Italian National Scientific Qualification (Abilitazione Scientifica Nazionale, ASN) for the position of Full Professor (First Level) in Competition Sector 10/B1 – History of Art.
> December 2020: Awarded the Italian National Scientific Qualification (Abilitazione Scientifica Nazionale, ASN) for the position of Associate Professor (Second Level) in Competition Sector 10/B1 – History of Art.
Ongoing research projects:
> Principal Investigator of the project Contemporary Art Exhibitions in Parma / Mostre d'arte contemporanea a Parma (1968–1979), University call 2025 – Action B, 15 October 2025 – 15 October 2027.
> Co-curator of the exhibition Verita Monselles. CARNALE, Centro Pecci, Prato, 30 May–30 August 2026.
