Published on the occasion of the exhibition at MAXXI, the volume offers an in-depth survey of contemporary Italian art and culture, reinterpreted in light of the theme of the tragicomic. The book collects around twenty texts by famous authors selected by a specially appointed scientific committee, a chorus of voices and experiences from different fields - including theater, cinema, philosophy, literature, and architecture - sketching a multifaceted portrait of Italian creativity from the 1940s to today, offering insights and new avenues for reflection. This rich collection of unpublished essays is accompanied by over two hundred images: from the minimal ones accompanying the critical essays to photographs documenting the 140 artists exhibited at MAXXI, the volume draws a new mapping of contemporary Italian art. Historicized artists known to the general public are joined by names of lesser-known authors that this important research work aims to contextualize and highlight.The result is an indispensable study manual, a tool for narrating our country in light of what Agamben called 'the antitragic intention,' an entirely Italian ability to face the adversities of the present with irony.