At MAMbo, a photo exhibition chronicles the devastating impact of the Romagna flood on books

From August 8 to September 24, 2023, MAMbo - Museum of Modern Art of Bologna of the Bologna Civic Museums Sector will host in the foyer spaces the exhibition Books and Mud in Flooded Romagna. On display are twenty-two photographs taken by Giovanni Zaffagnini that aim to tell thedevastating impact of the recent flooding in Romagna on books.

Crumpled, swollen, rendered illegible, and covered with mud, the volumes made available for photographs by the Biblioteca Comunale Manfrediana in Faenza, the Biblioteca Comunale Fabrizio Trisi in Lugo, and the Libreria Alfabeta in Lugo show both fragility and resilience.

A catalog publication published by Danilo Montanari Editore, with a preface by Marco Sangiorgi, will be produced from the images during the exhibition.

Proceeds from the sale of the book and photographs will be donated to libraries damaged by the May 2023 flood in Romagna. To support the realization of the book, it is necessary to book its purchase, preferably soon, from Danilo Montanari Editore choosing between two different offers: standard edition (32 pages, 22 four-color photographs) at the price of 25 euros or limited edition of 50 signed and numbered copies with one original photograph signed and numbered by the author at the price of 120 euros. Purchase reservations should be addressed to info.danilomontanari@gmail.com.

“Filed the moments reserved for live reporting, there is a need for a different, less frenetic, more reflective approach. Portraits of books overwhelmed by mud, in the grip of a slow and relentless agony. The neutral background of the images does not contemplate any context and indicates the chosen subject without delay; ’almost sketchy sculpture,’ writes Marco Sangiorgi in the volume’s preface. Those in charge of waste collection inform us of the fate reserved for the flooded books: they will end up shredded and ground as part of the recycling program. New life then? will they return book? or will they be ’relegated’ to wrapping paper or something else? These images might be the last photo-remembrances of books still as such though warped and soiled. The thought has been with me since the first shot; those who love reading on paper will understand,” said Giovanni Zaffagnini about these “portraits” of muddied books.

The author will be present at the opening of the exhibition project at MAMbo on Tuesday, Aug. 8 from 2 p.m.

Free admission during museum opening hours.

At MAMbo, a photo exhibition chronicles the devastating impact of the Romagna flood on books

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