MAO - Museo d’Arte Orientale

What MAO - Museo d’Arte Orientale does

MAO - Museo d'Arte Orientale is a public museum dedicated to Asian art, located in Turin, Italy, at Via San Domenico 11, in the city's historic center. It operates as part of the Fondazione Torino Musei (FTM) network, alongside GAM (Galleria Civica d'Arte Moderna e Contemporanea) and Palazzo Madama (Museo Civico d'Arte Antica). The museum houses permanent collections of Asian art spanning Japan, China, Southeast Asia, Central Asia, the Islamic world, and India, and operates a contemporary art program called T-MAO (Tempo Presente) that includes temporary exhibitions, artist residencies, and projects at the intersection of Asian art and contemporary creation.

The museum's product and service portfolio consists of: (1) the permanent collections organized by geographic area, (2) temporary exhibitions such as Chiharu Shiota: The Soul Trembles (opening October 2025, previously hosted at Grand Palais, Busan, Shanghai, Brisbane, and Shenzhen), Paesaggi da sogno / Dreamscapes (July 2026, featuring UniCredit-owned Hiroshige Tokaido prints), and Song Dong. Soul Out (October 2026); (3) educational services (Servizi Educativi) including MiniMAO for children, school programs, summer centers, family activities, adult programs, university training, and inclusion/accessibility projects; (4) guided tours operated by Cooperativa Mirafiori; (5) a bilingual exhibition catalogue published with Silvana Editoriale; (6) the La Mediateca digital media library; and (7) the "MAO in viaggio" traveling exhibition program that extends collections to other regional venues. Technological assets are limited to digital multimedia content (online catalogue, YouTube channel featuring restoration and LIS/Italian Sign Language accessibility videos) developed in collaboration with Istituto dei Sordi di Torino; there is no proprietary platform, no app, and no API.

The business model is a hybrid public-museum revenue structure. Direct-to-consumer revenue comes from ticket sales (full price €18, reduced €15/€12/€6, with free admission for children under 6, museum pass holders, accredited journalists, and disability companions), guided tour surcharges (~€6 per exhibition), and space rentals for private events via FTM. Additional income is generated through educational programming (schools, families, adults), publication sales, and the traveling exhibition program. Distribution is primarily through the physical venue, supplemented by the Fondazione Torino Musei online ticketing platform, and the museum is marketed through its website, YouTube channel, Facebook, Instagram, Pinterest, and email newsletter. The customer base is a horizontal mix of general public visitors, school groups, families, university students/researchers, and visitors with disabilities — with no enterprise anchor customers.

Name

MAO - Museo d’Arte Orientale

Legal name

Museo d'Arte Orientale di Torino

Website

https://maotorino.it

Company type

Private

Operating status

Operating

Headcount range

11–50 employees

Short description

MAO - Museo d'Arte Orientale is a public museum of Asian art in Turin, Italy, operated by Fondazione Torino Musei. It serves general public visitors, schools, families, and researchers through permanent collections, temporary exhibitions, educational programs, and guided tours.

Ownership category

akta.pro rank

Product category

Art Museum

NAICS

Museums (712110), Museums, Historical Sites, and Similar Institutions (7121)

akta.pro primary industry

Art Museums (THAJADAA)

akta.pro secondary industries

Art Galleries & Exhibition Spaces (Commercial & Nonprofit) (THAJADAH), Museum & Landmark Guided Tours (Skip-the-line/Docent-led) (THAJAAAC)

Keywords

• Asian art museum
• Cultural exhibitions
• Art education programs
• Guided museum tours
• Heritage collections

Headquarters

HQ city

Torino

HQ country

Italy

HQ region

Europe

Offices1 record

Markets served

GTM type

B2C

Offering type

Services

Cost components

Personnel, Operations, Infrastructure, Marketing or Sales

Revenue model

1. Museum Entrance Tickets: The museum generates revenue through sale of tickets for permanent collections, temporary exhibitions, and special events. Tickets can be purchased online or at the box office.
2. Guided Tours and Educational Activities: Revenue from guided tours to collections and exhibitions, special exclusive visits, and educational programs for schools, families, adults, and universities.
3. Private Events and Space Rental: Through Fondazione Torino Musei network, the museum participates in space rental programs for private events.

Pricing tiers

Go-to-market motion1 record

Distribution channels4 records

Marketing channels5 records

Core offering

MAO - Museo d'Arte Orientale is a museum of Oriental art located in Turin, Italy, that curates and exhibits collections originating from Japan, China, Southeast Asia, the Himalayan region, Islamic countries, and India. It sells admission tickets, guided tours, educational programs, and rental of museum spaces for private events and photo shoots.

Product overview

MAO - Museo d'Arte Orientale is a museum dedicated to Asian art, operating as part of the Fondazione Torino Musei. The museum offers a comprehensive portfolio consisting of its permanent collections organized by geographic area, the T-MAO (Time Present) program featuring contemporary exhibitions and artist residencies, La Mediateca for digital media content, and Servizi Educativi for educational outreach including MiniMAO for children. The museum hosts temporary exhibitions and events (Mostre ed Eventi), provides guided tours (Visite Guidate), and maintains an online catalogue. Tickets and admission to collections and exhibitions are available through the Fondazione Torino Musei online ticketing system.

Differentiator

Problem solved

Functional benefit

Products and services

• Asian art exhibitions Curated exhibitions of Asian art collections spanning Japan, China, Southeast Asia, the Himalayan region, Islamic countries, and India, offered to general museum visitors and cultural tourists.
• Guided museum tours Expert-led guided tours of the museum's Asian art collections for individual visitors, groups, and educational parties.
• Educational programs Structured educational initiatives and programs for schools and educational groups built around the museum's Asian art collections.
• Private event and photo-shoot venue rental Rental of museum spaces for private events, ceremonies, and photo shoots to event organizers, brands, photographers, and private clients.

Segments5 records

Ideal customer profiles3 records

Technology focussed No

API detail

Has API

No

API docs

API detail

Core technology

AI maturity

App detail

Feature3 records

Partnerships

Seven partnerships are on record, tiered core and minor.

• Fondazione Torino MuseicoreOthersMAO is part of the Fondazione Torino Musei network, which also manages GAM (Galleria Civica d'Arte Moderna e Contemporanea) and Palazzo Madama (Museo Civico d'Arte Antica). This partnership provides joint ticketing options and shared institutional resources.
• CoopculturecoreChannel Partner/ Reseller/ DistributorCoopculture provides guided tour services for exhibitions including the Chiharu Shiota: The Soul Trembles exhibition. They manage reservation systems and tour coordination for visitors.
• CivitaminorImplementation/ SI/ Consulting PartnerCivita provides educational activities for schools and associations working with people with disabilities during exhibitions.
• Istituto dei Sordi di TorinominorStrategic or Co-development PartnerCollaboration to provide IS (Italian Sign Language) accessibility content within exhibition pathways, making cultural content accessible to deaf visitors.
• UniCreditminorOthersUniCredit owns the celebrated collection of Utagawa Hiroshige's 'The 53 Stations of the Tōkaidō' prints, displayed at the museum as part of the Japanese gallery reinterpretation project.
• StudiUm - Dipartimento di Studi Umanistici, Università di TorinominorStrategic or Co-development PartnerCollaboration for the Material Culture Training Course (third edition 2024), providing academic perspective and knowledge exchange in the field of material culture studies.
• Silvana EditorialeminorOthersPublisher of the bilingual (Italian and English) catalog for the Chiharu Shiota: The Soul Trembles exhibition, with texts by curators and international experts.

Scale indicators1 record

Recent moves6 records

Expansion highlights4 records

Broad incumbents

• National Museum of Asian Art (Smithsonian): Smithsonian's Asian art institution in Washington, D.C., operating the Freer and Sackler galleries. Comparable in mission (Asian art across regions) but materially larger in scale, collections and resources.
• Asia Society Museum: New York-based museum within Asia Society focused on traditional and contemporary Asian art. Comparable thematic focus (traditional + contemporary Asian art), with broader programming scope than MAO.
• British Museum (Asian Collections): Global encyclopedic museum with major Asian galleries. Comparable in that it presents significant Asian art collections alongside other regions, though at vastly larger scale and breadth than MAO.

Others

• Chiharu Shiota (artist studio / representation): Japanese installation artist whose touring monographic show 'The Soul Trembles' is hosted at MAO. Included as an ecosystem participant rather than a competitor — illustrates the type of artist-talent relationships that drive MAO's exhibition pipeline.

Direct peers

• Musée Guimet (Musée national des arts asiatiques): France's national Asian art museum in Paris, holding encyclopedic Asian collections across similar geographic regions. Directly comparable as a public Asian-art museum with rotating temporary exhibitions of international scope.
• Museum of East Asian Art (Cologne): Germany's national museum of East Asian art, with comparable curatorial scope (China, Japan, Korea) and public-institution operating model. Strong direct peer on collection type and audience.
• Museo d'Arte Orientale (MAO Roma): The Rome-based MAO is the closest direct counterpart in Italy, also a public museum dedicated to Asian art. It is directly comparable in mission (Asian art collection), audience (cultural tourists and school groups) and funding model (public institution).
• Musée des Arts Asiatiques (Nice): French municipal museum of Asian art in Nice, with similar focus on Asian civilizations and rotating temporary exhibitions. Comparable as a publicly funded, single-site Asian-art museum.

Regional players

• Palazzo Madama - Museo Civico d'Arte Antica: Sibling institution within the same Fondazione Torino Musei network. Not an Asian-art museum, but directly comparable as a publicly funded Turin museum sharing joint ticketing, back-office and marketing resources with MAO.
• GAM - Galleria Civica d'Arte Moderna e Contemporanea: Turin's modern and contemporary art museum and the third FTM-network member. Comparable operating model and shared ticketing infrastructure, though its collection focus (modern/contemporary Western art) is distinct from MAO's Asian focus.

Market position

Strengths5 records

Weaknesses5 records

Competitive moat3 records

Key risks6 records

Key highlights7 records

Customer concentration

• YouTubeyoutube.com/user/MuseoDarteOrientale
• Facebookfacebook.com/RealMAOTorino
• Instagraminstagram.com/mao_torino/?hl=it
• Pinterestpinterest.it/Torino_MAO
• LinkedInlinkedin.com/company/mao---museo-d%E2%80%99arte-orientale

Revenue estimate

Valuation estimate

Number of profiles

Profiles3 records

Funding overview

Funding rounds

Investors

Funding detail is available on the Subscription and Enterprise plan.Contact sales →

M&A

Investments

M&A and investment is available on the Subscription and Enterprise plan.Contact sales →

Frequently asked questions about MAO - Museo d’Arte Orientale