BECAUSE OF MANY SUNS is the acquisition award established by the Taurisano Collection in 2021. Initially developed in Marseille within the context of Art-o-rama fair, the award was conceived to support emerging artistic practices that critically engage with contemporary society and envision alternative futures.

As of 2026, BECAUSE OF MANY SUNS expands beyond its original framework, extending its presence to MEGA Art Fair in Milan and LOOP Barcelona. Through this broader network, the award strengthens its commitment to supporting artists across different contexts, while fostering connections between emerging practices, institutions, collectors and curators.

The title of the award was conceived by the transdisciplinary collective Apparatus 22 as “a sunbeam nourishing young artistic practices”, helping to cultivate a more attentive and caring environment for the arts. The visual identity of the project was developed in collaboration with visual designer Otilia Fiastru.

Over the years, the award has involved international curators, collectors and cultural practitioners who have contributed to the development of its critical and curatorial discourse. Among them are Carolina Ciuti, independent curator and artistic director of LOOP Moving Image Art Festival in Barcelona; Bruno Bolfo, collector and co-founder of ICA Foundation in Milan; Joseph Awuah-Darko, founder and director of the Noldor Artist Residency in Accra, Ghana; Muriel Enjalran, director of FRAC Provence-Alpes-Côte d’Azur; and Sveva D’Antonio, collector and recurring jury member of the award.

Together with other professionals from the cultural field, their participation has contributed to shaping an international and interdisciplinary outlook for the award, fostering dialogue between emerging artists and broader global perspectives.

Since 2025, BECAUSE OF MANY SUNS has been curated by Massimiliano Maglione, whose work further consolidates the award’s curatorial direction and its role as a platform for research, exchange and support for emerging artistic practices.

Massimiliano Maglione is an independent curator.

His curatorial research investigates processes of stratification, sedimentation and recomposition, with a particular focus on how individual stories are connected to collective memory and to social, political and territorial dynamics. Through exhibitions, site-specific projects and residency programs, he explores the tensions and transformations that emerge from the encounter between personal experience and context.

His curatorial practice places the relationship with artists at the centre of his methodology. Each project takes shape through a shared research process, in which dialogue becomes the space where critical questions emerge, are redefined and guide the development of the curatorial project.

He collaborates with galleries, institutions and independent spaces in Italy and abroad. He currently works with the Taurisano Collection, where he develops parallel projects and curates the international acquisition award Because of Many Suns, in collaboration with the art fairs Art-o-rama in Marseille, MEGA Art Fair in Milan and LOOP Art Fair in Barcelona. He also collaborates with Tramandars, contributing to the development of artist residency programs on Mount Vesuvius.