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The Impresa e Cultura Award

The Impresa e Cultura Award was a national annual competition, established in 1997. The Award recognized companies engaged in ongoing productive cultural dialogue, and awarded top achievers with prizes for investing in culture to constructive ends.

Winners of the Impresa e Cultura Awards took part in mutually beneficial partnerships with museums, artists, schools and other cultural institutions, and saw returns on investment in terms of augmented local opportunity and social growth in addition to more traditional business gains.

The goal of the competition was to showcase standout applicants in different categories, allowing these success stories serve as models for growing small to medium-sized companies considering cultural investment.

Over 1000 companies have taken part in the Impresa e Cultura Award’s programs.

Award Categories

  • GRAND PRIZE – awarded to the best all-around candidate, meeting and exceeding criteria for all ancillary awards


  • INNOVATION – for the most innovative program of cultural investment
  • SOCIAL VALUE – awarded to at project or organization with immense social benefit
  • GLOBAL IMPACT – the prize for the cultural investment program with the most significant global impact
  • EFFECTIVE COMMUNICATION – for the best dissemination and communication of a cultural project
  • NEW ORGANIZATION – awarded to the most promising new organization on the cultural scene
  • CULTURE AS LEVERAGE – for the best use of culture for competitive edge
  • LOCAL VALUE – for a cultural investment strategy positively impacting the local environment
  • SERVICES EXCHANGE – a prize awarded for organizations engaging in the trading of goods or services, sharing knowledge instead of monetary values
  • CULTURAL PEDIGREE – for the company with the strongest history of cultural dialogue and partnership
  • LEADERSHIP – awarded to an organization with outstanding top-down culturally minded staff
  • INSTITUTION AWARD – awarded to a cultural institution or museum engaging with business and/or government to constructive ends
  • ARCHIVE – the prize for the best strategic implementation of an archive or collection
  • EUROPE IN ITALY – for a European agency investing in culture in Italy


  • Out of Competition:
  • ITALY ABROAD – awarded to the premier Italian organization working in the cultural field abroad
  • CULTURE AND BUSINESS – a prize for the cultural agent best making use of business knowledge and know-how
  • INTERNATIONAL – for the best international cultural investment collaboration
  • REGION – a region-specific prize

    • First Prize Winners

    • 2006/2007 - Bracco
    • 2005 – GlaxoSmithKline
    • 2004 – Gruppo Zegna
    • 2003 - Gruppo Loccioni
    • 2002 - Azienda Ospedaliera Meyer
    • 2001 - Pitti Immagine
    • 2000 - Gruppo Teseco
    • 1999 - Salvatore Ferragamo
    • 1998 - iGuzzini
    • 1997 - Zucchi