Fondazione Furla (The Furla Foundation) is an organization established in 2008 by Giovanna Furlanetto, president of Furla S.p.A. to support Furla's cultural initiatives, including the prestigious Furla Art Award established in 2000, now approaching its 10th edition.

The foundation seeks to support exceptional, young artists throughout Italy with a mission to develop and explore new creative channels across disciplines. Chiara Bertola, art critic and curator, is the curator of Fondazione Furla, overseeing the Foundation’s various cultural activities.

The Furla Art Award was launched in 2000 in collaboration with the Querini Stampalia Foundation in Venice and the Museum of Modern Art of Bologna. In 2015, in occasion of its tenth edition, the award was moved to Milan in collaboration with the Municipality of Milan – Culture and Palazzo Reale.

Under the direction of Curator, Chiara Bertola, the award was established to promote emerging Italian artists and bring awareness to the diverse channels of contemporary art developing throughout the country. The participants represent various mediums including video, photography, painting, installation, performance and sculpture.

For each edition the Foundation selects an artist of international acclaim to design the award as the season’s Guiding Artist. Former Guiding Artists have included Joseph Kosuth (2000), Ilya Kabakov (2001), Lothar Baumgarten (2002), Michelangelo Pistoletto (2003), Kiki Smith (2005), Mona Hatoum (2007), Marina Abramovic (2009),Christian Boltanski (2011), Jimmie Durham (2013) and Vanessa Beecroft (2015).