About

WHAT’S ON

The Gallery

Established by Michela Negrini in Lugano in 2016, [dip] specializes in contemporary art, working with a diverse array of international living artists and with the Geraldo de Barros Archive.

Shaped by over two decades of international experience in curatorial practice, research, and market analysis, [dip] was conceived as a platform for investigating new trajectories in contemporary art across disciplines and media, while fostering critical reflection on the global issues that shape our time. From its inception, historical scholarship, curatorial rigor, and transparency have informed all of the gallery’s initiatives, including exhibitions, panel discussions, and educational programs. The gallery works in close dialogue with artists to develop exhibitions, site specific and commissions projects, as well as a distinctive body of limited-edition prints, books, jewelry and objects, all conceived through long-term research and produced to the highest standards. Operating internationally, [dip] engages with projects across diverse cultural and geographic contexts. Beyond the exhibition space,the gallery’s curatorial practice at times unfolds within commissioned contexts, where art enters into close dialogue with space, architecture, and ways of living. These engagements remain an integral yet selective part of the gallery’s practice, shaped by context, vision, and long-standing professional relationships.

WHAT WE DO

Our Approach and Services

Presenting and promoting the artists’ work remains at the core of the gallery’s activity. Alongside this, [dip] provides comprehensive, long-term support to collectors, accompanying each project from initial concept to acquisition and installation. This includes advisory services related to conservation, insurance, logistics, and collection care. Through close dialogue with collectors, institutions, and professional partners, the gallery supports the development of coherent collecting strategies, ensuring that each acquisition aligns both with personal vision and with long-term cultural and financial value. [dip] regularly collaborates with architects, interior designers, and consultants, integrating art within complex spatial and design-led projects across a variety of contexts, public, private and corporate.

Archives and Collections

Archives are not just collections of different media: they are a vital part of our collective memory, providing us with a particular understanding of our past, and are a permanent significance for history, science and culture. As such, they are an integral part of our cultural heritage, and shall be considered to be a cultural monument. [dip] offers specialized expertise to fully support Archives and Collections: supporting their management, organization, preservation, and activation, ensuring that both the contemporary and those inherited from the past, remain accessible, meaningful, and relevant for present and future generations.

Collectors and Family Offices

The art market has become increasingly visible and data-driven, yet it continues to operate through complex dynamics, limited transparency, and highly differentiated works. In this context, informed curatorial guidance remains essential. [dip] advises collectors and family offices on acquisitions, collection development, and value enhancement, drawing on a combination of historical research, market insight, and strategic positioning. Each engagement is shaped to support long-term perspectives, discretion, and informed decision-making within a global cultural landscape. It is never simply advice on art and design, but the orchestration of legacies and experiences.

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Michela Negrini

About me

The aim of art is to represent not the outward appearance of things, but their inward significance. Aristotele

Michela Negrini (b. 1979) lives between Milan (Italy) and Lugano (Switzerland) and works internationally.
Her practice operates at the intersection of curatorial research, contemporary art, and cultural heritage, informed by over two decades of academic, institutional, and field-based experience. Building on her curatorial expertise, she extends a research-driven approach beyond the exhibition format, applying the same rigor to selected private contexts. Her practice explores how art engages with architecture, design, and function, shaping extraordinary environments in which cultural value, aesthetics, and identity converge within a refined, cohesive, and enduring vision, attuned to lifestyle and legacy.

Michela Negrini holds a Degree in Communication Sciences, a Master of Arts with honours in Preservation and Presentation of the Moving Image, and a PhD in Communication Sciences, Magna Cum Laude. Her academic research focused on the intersection between technical and humanistic inquiry, with particular attention to cultural heritage, contemporary art, and emerging communication technologies. This background has shaped a rigorous, research-driven curatorial methodology grounded in critical inquiry and long-term cultural perspectives. Early in her career, she collaborated with leading cultural and research institutions, including the Netherlands Institute for Cultural Heritage (ICN), the University of Amsterdam (UvA), INCCA – International Network for the Conservation of Contemporary Art, and the Vrije Universiteit Amsterdam, contributing to interdisciplinary projects in conservation, archiving, and contemporary art practices. From 2005 onward, she began a collaboration with Marina Abramović, initially working on the organization of the artist’s video archive and later assisting on exhibitions. Between 2006 and 2016, she collaborated on numerous exhibitions, biennials, film and video productions, and research-based projects across Europe, South America, India, Asia, and more recently Africa and the Middle East, working with internationally established artists and institutions. Among these were The Language of Equilibrium by Joseph Kosuth (Biennale di Venezia, 2007), VOOM Portraits by Robert Wilson, and Urban Manners 2, the first major exhibition in South America dedicated to contemporary Indian art. Alongside her curatorial activity, she has contributed to publications, research programs, and advanced cultural communication strategies for institutions, archives, and collections. In 2016, she founded [dip] in Lugano, conceived as a platform for exploring new trajectories in international contemporary art through exhibitions, research-based projects, and public discourse. The gallery reflects her long-standing commitment to fostering dialogue between artistic practice, critical thought, and the broader cultural and social questions of our time.