“… having met the great artists from my generation, and having been involved in the contemporary artworld for three decades, I was inpired to support and accompany those young artists who enter this scene today. Their projects, achieved on a continuously expanding international platform, refresh our world vision and continuously enrich it…”

Giuliana Setari Carusi, President

The Dena Foundation for Contemporary Art, chaired by Giuliana Setari Carusi, in collaboration with a Board of Trustees and a Scientific Committee, is a non-profit organization established in New York in 2001, with an office in Paris.

Its mission is to promote the diffusion of visual contemporary arts, supporting young artists at an international level and in a perspective of exchange.

Caring also to strengthen the links and the interactions between Italian culture and that of other countries, its initiatives involve, in the first place, emerging  artists living in Italy, as is with its Artists Residency Programs in New York and Paris.

Thereby, the Foundation contributes to create a synergy between artists, museum directors, programs of research directors and professionals of the art world. With this in mind, the Foundation organizes also round tables, conferences, seminars and exhibitions.

In addition, since its creation, the Foundation has established an international prize, the Dena Foundation Art Award, rewarding young artists from different nationalities who have realized a work for a public space, with a strong social relevance.

The Foundation also contributes to the promotion of artists’ works thanks to production aids and publications.


Board of Trustees
Giuliana Setari Carusi, founder and president
Antoine de Galbert
Pier Luigi Lanza
Cynthia Milani Sanders
Josée Reboul
Nicola Setari
Dora Stiefelmeier

Scientific Committee
Carolyn Christov-Bakargiev
Helmut Friedel
Hans Ulrich Obrist
Roberto Pinto
Dora Stiefelmeier