Museum Beauty Contest. Paco Cao

Paco Cao's Museum Beauty Contest recounts the creation and development of the eponymous project organised by La Galleria Nazionale di Roma between 2016 and 2017. In an exploration of age-old questions surrounding traditional notions of beauty and mated with the dynamics of contemporary, competitive reality shows, thirty-five female portraits and thirty-five male portraits belonging to the museum's collection were selected and entered into a beauty contest in which the public served as the jury, casting both paper and online voting ballots. Widespread public participation was achieved due to an intensive promotional campaign deployed throughout Rome's public transit system along with a televised debate on one of Italy's most popular programs. After thousands of votes were tallied, the project culminated in a Grand Finale Gala held at the museum where the winners were crowned Miss and Mister Galleria Nazionale 2017.