Mattia Pozzoni is the Founder and Director of MEGA Art Fair in Milan — a curatorial project launched in 2023 that has quickly moved beyond the format of a traditional art fair. Working at the intersection of curation, advising, and cultural strategy, Mattia Pozzoni brings over fifteen years of experience advising major collectors and institutions across Europe.
In this interview, we explore the origins of MEGA as a response to the limitations of traditional art fairs, the importance of creating more human and experiential formats for engaging with art, and the delicate balance between social atmosphere and curatorial rigor.
Be honest – were you personally frustrated with traditional art fairs before creating MEGA? What wasn’t working for you?
Yes — not with the model itself, but with how predictable it had become. Too polished, too transactional, slightly detached from how people actually want to experience art today. MEGA came from that frustration — the need to make things feel more alive, more human.
Good food, music, drinks, late nights – it sounds more like a party than an exhibition. Where do you draw the line between a great night out and a serious art event?
We’re very careful about that — we just don’t do parties. The idea is to create a curated yet informal environment, where people feel at ease but still fully engaged with the work. The social layer is there to open up different ways of looking, not to distract from the art. It’s about giving space for encounters that wouldn’t happen in a more rigid setting.
You move to a completely different Milan space every edition – which venue surprised you the most, and why?
Spazio Profumo this year — an old perfume factory. It had such a strong identity that we didn’t need to impose much. It naturally shaped the fair, from the pacing to the programming. Those are the spaces you’re always hoping to find.
Art advisor and art fair co-founder – isn’t that a bit of a conflict of interest? Or is it actually your biggest advantage?
On paper it could look like a conflict — in reality, it’s the opposite. If anything, MEGA has an art advisor working for free! That perspective helps us stay very focused on what actually matters for collectors and galleries, without building a fair around pure sales logic. It keeps the whole ecosystem a bit more honest.
If MEGA had to happen outside Milan – which city in the world would be the perfect fit, and what would change about the format?
London or Paris would be the obvious answers — but maybe too obvious. Sharjah would be far more interesting. It’s a place with real cultural ambition, strong institutional support, and still a genuine openness to experimentation.
The format wouldn’t change radically, but the context would push it further. MEGA works best where it can build, not just plug in.
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