The Art Museum of Italian Switzerland (MASI Lugano) offers a rich exhibition program that spans the history of art, from the great masters of the 20th century to the present day. Through careful research, the museum highlights lesser-known artists from both north and south of the Alps and hosts major retrospectives dedicated to leading figures in art history. Over the years, MASI has presented exhibitions on artists such as Pablo Picasso, René Magritte, Alexander Calder, and Ferdinand Hodler. Notable solo exhibitions by contemporary artists include those dedicated, for example, to Nicolas Party, Julian Charrière, and Rita Ackermann.  

The exhibition program encompasses various artistic languages and techniques, ranging from painting to sculpture to video art. In recent years, special attention has been given to photography—both historical and contemporary—with exhibitions that have included, among others, those featuring Luigi Ghirri and the Thomas Walther Collection from the MoMA in New York.  

The cultural offerings are enriched by educational activities designed to make the museum accessible to everyone, as well as a packed program of events. The museum’s collection comprises over 14,000 works and spans a broad chronological range, from the late 15th century to the present day. It features works related to Switzerland and the museum’s exhibition program and is constantly growing thanks to new acquisitions and the generosity of private donors. The works in the collection are presented on a rotating basis in ever-changing exhibitions and undergo careful conservation, made possible in part by the museum’s in-house restoration laboratory. 

Active since 1935 as the Orchestra della Radio Svizzera Italiana, it has collaborated with the most prominent conductors and composers of the time. In 1991, it adopted its current name and gained international recognition with concerts at the Musikverein in Vienna, as well as in Salzburg, Berlin, Cologne, Paris, Amsterdam, St. Petersburg, Milan, and Rome, and with tours in Brazil and South Korea.  

Since 2015, it has continued its successful journey under principal conductor Markus Poschner. 

It is one of the fifteen professional orchestras active in Switzerland: composed of about forty permanent musicians, it divides its activities among the three seasons in which it takes center stage in Lugano (OSI at the LAC, OSI at the Auditorio, and OSI at Pentecost), a season in Bellinzona, tours of major theaters and concert halls throughout Europe, recording projects (including two ICMA awards), opera and ballet productions (including the highly successful *La traviata* in the summer of 2022), programs for young people and the innovative “be connected” series, as well as concerts throughout Italian-speaking Switzerland and in the Grisons. 

The OSI has been the resident orchestra at the LAC since 2015: This means that the cultural center provides spaces and resources so that the orchestra can work and experiment (for example, at the Presenza Festival, with the renowned cellist Sol Gabetta), with the aim of supporting its artistic development and creating initiatives that engage the widest possible audience. All of this is done with a special focus on young people through the LAC edu program (as part of “be connected”), through which the OSI reaches more than 10,000 people each year, primarily children. 

Rounding out the open-air program are film concerts and summer festivals, including the Locarno Film Festival, while in the area of music education, the orchestra collaborates at various levels with the University School of Music at the Conservatory of Italian Switzerland.

The Finzi Pasca Company was founded in 2011 by Antonio Vergamini, Daniele Finzi Pasca, Hugo Gargiulo, Julie Hamelin Finzi, and Maria Bonzanigo, building on the work developed by Teatro Sunil and Inlevitas. 

The distinctive artistic vision of the Finzi Pasca Company took shape from the concepts of “Teatro della Carezza” (Theater of the Caress) and “Gesto Invisibile” (Invisible Gesture). Developed over more than 40 years of experience, these concepts have established a unique aesthetic and a highly personal style of creation and production, as well as a training philosophy for actors, acrobats, musicians, dancers, and technicians: a way of inhabiting space. 

Theater, dance, acrobatics, circus, opera, and documentaries: it all comes together in the Finzi Pasca Company. Based in Lugano (Switzerland), the Finzi Pasca Company is among the world’s leading independent artistic companies. Throughout its history, it has created and produced more than 40 shows. 

Its creative team has also designed three Olympic ceremonies—Turin 2006 and Sochi 2014 for the Olympic and Paralympic Games—as well as two shows for Cirque du Soleil: *Luzia* in 2016 and *Corteo* in 2005; nine operas, including Verdi’s *Aida* and *Requiem*, which have officially entered the repertoire of the Mariinsky Theatre in St. Petersburg; *Carmen* and *Pagliacci* at the Teatro San Carlo in Naples; *L’Amour de loin* for the English National Opera in London; *Einstein on the Beach* and *Maria de Buenos Aires* at the Grand Théâtre de Genève; *Les Contes d’Hoffmann* at the Staatsoper Hamburg; and *Zarqa al Yamama* at the King Fahad Cultural Center in Riyadh. 

Among its major events, the company produced *Montréal Avudo* (Canada) in 2017 and *Abrazos* for the Feria Estatal de León (Mexico) in 2019. Additionally, its creative team participated in the 2019 Fête des Vignerons in Vevey (Switzerland). In 2020, the Finzi Pasca Company oversaw the artistic direction and staging for the inauguration of Russia’s largest organ at the Zaryadye Concert Hall in Moscow: an immersive installation during which 24 of the world’s finest organists performed for 24 consecutive hours. In 2024, the company’s creative team curated The Sense Gallery, a multisensory space featuring immersive installations at FoxTown in Mendrisio.