Festival dedicated to art and artists' books at MAMbo in Bologna

From Friday, May 26 to Sunday, May 28, 2023, MAMbo in Bologna, in the spaces of Sala delle Ciminiere, will host the first edition of BOOKS, the festival dedicated to art and artists’ books, presented by Danilo Montanari Editore in collaboration with Settore Musei Civici Bologna | MAMbo - Museo d’Arte Moderna di Bologna, curated by Danilo Montanari and Lorenzo Balbi.

Born from the idea of not dispersing the legacy of two important events in the sector(Artelibro, the Art Book Festival that was held in Bologna from 2003 to 2014, and FLAT - Turin Art Book Fair, an international event that animated the Piedmontese capital from 2017 to 2019), BOOKS intends to position itself in a “lateral” segment, albeit not strictly alternative to the phenomenon of fairs, with the aim of proposing, thanks to the book as a medium, content and opportunities that facilitate the direct relationship, of knowledge and exchange, between artists and collectors, without renouncing a market vocation.Art publishing is a sector that in Italy reaches very high levels of quality but has much less visibility, including market visibility, than in other countries. The event aims first and foremost to bring together the forces of booksellers and publishers, as well as to lay the groundwork for the growth of their respective audiences.

For the first edition of BOOKS, the spaces of the Ciminiere Hall welcome thirty-six exhibitors, booksellers and publishers in the sector, present with projects on art books: not stands, but in-depth tables focused on a limited number of titles, no more than one hundred per exhibitor.

Alongside the exhibitors’ tables, ten exhibition focuses will find space that are intended to highlight the quality and historicity of Italian art publishing: from the presentation of all Franco Vaccari’s artist books to the five books born in the 1970s from the collaboration between Claudio Parmiggiani and Mario Diacono; from a presentation of Maurizio Nannucci’s publishing production to Paolo Ventura’s limited edition books and the volumes edited by Luigi Ghirri during his activity as an artist and photographer; from Daniela Comani’s artist books from the 1990s to the present to a selection of Jacopo Benassi’s fanzine production and a posthumous tribute to artist Irma Blank, who passed away just over a month ago.

A monographic in-depth study is also reserved for Giorgio Maffei, the first in Italy, together with Liliana Dematteis, to deal with art publishing, and still considered one of the world’s leading experts on the subject: about fifty volumes he edited between the 1960s and 1980s: books about books, dedicated to the production of masters such as Bruno Munari, Alighiero Boetti and Sol LeWitt.

The exhibition project is completed with a selection of eight titles from Xong collection, an artist’s record label produced by Xing. The collection explores and traces a geography of performativity-related personalities who understand the sonic field as one of the platforms in which to expand their worlds and imaginations.

The layout of BOOKS is organized to encourage convivial exchange: a lounge area is located in the center of the room so that meetings with authors and collectors can take place in seamless dialogue with the exhibition focuses.
Enriching the festival is a program of meetings and conversations.

On the occasion of the festival, CorrainiMAMbo artbookshop proposes a corner dedicated to Edizioni MAMbo and GAM with a selection of more than sixty titles offered to the public at exceptional prices: from the catalogs of the historic exhibitions of Luigi Ghirri and Claudio Parmiggiani to the MAMbo Instant Book series, arriving at the recent publications dedicated to the temporary exhibitions That’s IT! On the latest generation of artists in Italy and six feet from the border and The Floating Collection.

Also on view at MAMbo from Friday, May 26, in the space in front of the Library entrance, Orlando’s Library, asite-specific installation by Daniela Comani that draws from the photographic series Editorial Novelties curated by the artist. The work becomes part of the museum’s collection thanks to TRUST for Contemporary Art, which establishes and manages a fund dedicated to the art of the present, represented by the resources made available by the three dispensers BolognaFiere, Fondazione Cassa di Risparmio in Bologna, Fondazione del Monte di Bologna e Ravenna, the main donor Gruppo Unipol and the supporting donor Emil Banca Credito Cooperativo.

Finally, on Sunday, May 28 at 4 p.m., the MAMbo Education Department is offering a special Sunday at the Museum for children ages 8 to 12 dedicated to the volume Il mio diario di storia dell’arte published by Artebambini. Through confrontation with the work of art, workshop participants will be able to create a personal “artist’s book” together with author Silvia Meneghini.

BOOKS is accompanied by a special publication by Danilo Montanari Editore, Il libro e/è l’arte, an anthology on the artist’s book with texts by Mirella Bentivoglio, Marzia and Maurizio Corraini, Liliana Dematteis, Mario Diacono, Daniela Palazzoli, Annalisa Rimmaudo, edited by Danilo Montanari and Lorenzo Balbi.

The first edition of the Bologna art books festival has a scientific committee composed of Silvia Alessandri, Mario Diacono, Liliana Dematteis and Giovanna Pesci.
The guiding image of BOOKS was designed by Paolo Ventura.
The sound environment that will accompany the festival is created by Carolina Martines.
The project includes collaboration with galleries and cultural institutions in the city.
Access to the festival with MAMbo collection ticket: full 6 euros, reduced 4 euros.
A complete list for concessions and free admission is available at www.mambo-bologna.org/ingressoeorari/

BOOKS is part of Bologna Portici Festival - Heritage meets Creativity, the event promoted and coordinated by the Municipality of Bologna to celebrate the UNESCO World Heritage Porticoes as part of the Bologna Estate event program. The portico of the former Forno del Pane, a historic building where MAMbo is located, is in fact included in the list of twelve UNESCO-listed tracts.

We thank for the collaboration: Collezione Maramotti, Archivio Luigi Ghirri, Galleria Studio G7, Galleria P420, Maffei Studio Bibliografico.

For info: www.booksfestival.it

Installation image. Photo by Ornella De Carlo. Courtesy of Settore Musei Civici Bologna | MAMbo.

Festival dedicated to art and artists' books at MAMbo in Bologna

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