Visit on request
The exhibition closed on 12 October 2026. The works by Riccardo Previdi and Leone Contini in the San Marco garden, and Gina Soden’s Memory and Vision in the Sala delle Grottesche, remain on view and can be visited on request.
To arrange a visit, please write to open@eui.eu. We will confirm the date and how to access the palazzo by email.
The San Marco garden and the ground-floor rooms of Palazzo Buontalenti are accessible to visitors with reduced mobility and wheelchair users.
The 2026 season
7 May – Preview. More than 1,600 guests attended the opening evening, with European delegations, members of the EUI High Council and guests of the 50th anniversary. The exhibition was opened by the Mayor of Florence, Sara Funaro, the Director of the Agenzia del Demanio, Alessandra dal Verme, and the President of the EUI, Patrizia Nanz. In the courtyard, the Hymn to Peace by Andrea Portera, with words by Father Bernardo Gianni, Abbot of San Miniato al Monte, was accompanied by the immersive video projections of Vincenzo Capalbo.
8 May – Visit of the President of the Italian Republic. As part of the 50th anniversary celebrations, President Sergio Mattarella visited the exhibition.
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8–9 May – Opening to the city. Over 1,000 people came for two free evenings. As on the preview evening, the courtyard hosted immersive video projections on the façades by Vincenzo Capalbo.
11 May – 12 October – Public openings. On Monday and Saturday afternoons the exhibition was open to all with free admission. Visitors were welcomed by the volunteers of FAI Delegazione di Firenze, and more than 1,000 joined guided tours with the art historians of MUS.E. Groups from universities, schools of governance and executive programmes also visited during the season.
24 September – Berlinde De Bruyckere in conversation. The artist spoke with Fabrizio Tassinari of the Florence School of Transnational Governance at Palazzo Buontalenti, in an event organised with Galleria Continua.
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27 September – Corri la Vita. A special Sunday opening linked to the charity run brought almost 400 visitors, the busiest day of the season.
12 October – Closing day. The last public afternoon was followed in the evening by visits from the University of Florence, the Florence School of Banking and Finance and the Kunsthistorisches Institut in Florenz, the latter coordinated by the EUI Department of History.
Officine d’Orizzonti. Starting from the themes of OPEN, secondary school students from Florence and Tuscany take part in workshops on European citizenship at Palazzo Buontalenti until December 2026.
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