In Reggio Emilia, an exhibition at the Palazzo dei Musei addresses the issue of climate emergency

The exhibition Contaminations, which begins April 26 and ends June 9, 2024 at Palazzo dei Musei in Reggio Emilia during the Fotografia Europea festival, addresses the theme ofclimate emergency and changing contemporary thinking. This pushes toward a revision of the anthropocentric paradigm. Curated by Ilaria Campioli and Daniele De Luigi, the exhibition presents the projects of seven artists selected through the Open Call Giovane Fotografia Italiana | Premio Luigi Ghirri.

The artists are Claudia Amatruda (Foggia, 1995), Benedetta Casagrande (Milan, 1993), Noemi Comi (Catanzaro, 1996), Massimiliano Corteselli (Tivoli,1994), Camilla Marrese (Bologna, 1998), Cinzia Romanin (Brussels,1995), Alessandro Truffa (Cuorgnè, Turin, 1996) and with their research propose a reflection on what are the intermediate spaces, the zones of contamination and mutual transformation between humans and the rest of the living, using broad and layered materials and approaches, in which the photographic medium becomes part of the reflection itself. In Good Use Of My Bad Health, Claudia Amatruda focuses on her body and its transformations in order to challenge traditional and binary categories such as man/woman, natural/artificial by carrying out a series of experiments through the visual medium. Benedetta Casagrande in All Things Laid Dormant, explores the ways through which we come into contact with other animals, thus contributing to a deeper understanding of the space they occupy in our personal and collective imaginary. Noemi Comi uses a pop-tinged investigation as a metaphor for the contradictions of our time: Proxidium is a journey between nature and science, in which disarming images open up to an unknown world, dealing with issues ranging from problems related to pollution, to those related to the relentless pursuit of success and popularity. Forest fires in the Mediterranean and the economic interests that in many cases underlie them are the focus of Massimiliano Corteselli ’s project entitled Contrapasso, which, by focusing on certain biblical and archetypal themes present in the narrative from the people involved, creates an analogy betweenDante’s Inferno and fires in the Mediterranean. In Field Notes for Climate Observers, Camilla Marrese creates a guide to climate observation and prediction in times of crisis, composing through an articulated series of images a manual in which science becomes a cyclical ritual, a loop of observations, data and simulations to increase our sensitivity and our ability to inhabit uncertainty and impossibility. Inspired by doubts and reflections on photography itself, Cinzia Romanin poses, through the project Transcendence, a series of questions about the living world around us, investigating different ways of being resilient through themes such as alternative housing, new technologies, low-tech, emerging communities, eco-feminism, limited resources and biodiversity conservation. Alessandro Truffa with the project Nioko Bokk carries out visual research based on participant observation and the collection of data and information on a small ecovillage in the Casamance region of Senegal to reconstruct a scenario in which the forest ecosystem is revealed as a complex and branching system of relationships. The seven artists, in addition to participating in the exhibition, will compete for the Luigi Ghirri Prize, worth 4,000 euros, on April 28 at the Palazzo dei Musei, which will be awarded by a jury composed of Giovanna Calvenzi for Triennale Milano, Alessandro Dandini de Sylva, Paola De Pietri, Adele Ghirri for the Luigi Ghirri heirs archive, and Luce Lebart, a member of the artistic direction of Fotografia Europea. The new winner of the Prize, will also have the opportunity to exhibit a larger version of his project in a solo exhibition at Triennale Milano (winter 2025).

Young Italian Photography #11 | Luigi Ghirri Prize 2024 is promoted by the Municipality of Reggio Emilia - Cultural Services in partnership with the Italian Cultural Institute of Stockholm and Triennale Milano. The initiative is carried out in collaboration with GAI - Associazione per il Circuito dei Giovani Artisti Italiani, Fotografia Europea; Fotodok, Utrecht; Fotofestiwal Łódz in Poland; Photoworks, Brighton and sees the contribution of Reire srl, which has supported Giovane Fotografia Italiana since the first editions. Sponsor Gruppo Giovani Imprenditori Unindustria Reggio Emilia. The GFI#11 | Luigi Ghirri Prize 2024 project is realized thanks to European Funds from the Emilia-Romagna Region.

Notes on the artists

Claudia Amatruda (Foggia,1995) is a visual artist with a degree in Photography and Visual Design from Naba in Milan. Her work focuses on the representation of the body through photography and video installations, dealing with social issues supported by research on scientific and literary texts. In 2019 he published the photographic book Naiad, presented through talks in Italian schools and festivals to raise awareness on the issue of invisible diseases. From 2021 to present his project When you hear hoofbeats think of horses, not zebras is exhibited in Italy, Greece, France, Holland and England. In 2022 he won the Special Mention for the Emerging Photography section of the Francesco Fabbri Prize. According to Il Giornale dell’Arte, he is among the 30 artists under 30 in 2023 and produced NFT works during a PhotoVogue x Voice.com art residency. In 2025 he will exhibit at the Gibellina PhotoRoad Festival and enter the permanent collection of the Orestiadi Foundation in Sicily.

Benedetta Casagrande (Milan, 1993) is a Milan-based photographer, writer and curator. Her artistic, curatorial and writing practice unfolds through slow research (literally translated as slow research, a term coined by Carolyn F. Strauss); slowness as a principle of listening, deceleration and repositioning with respect to the world, understood as a method for situating human experience within wider networks of relationships, spaces and temporalities. As fundamentally based on an encounter with the world, photography is her favorite medium for relating to her surroundings and its animal,plant and object elements through movements of proximity and distance, presence and absence, contact and its loss. Her work has been shown in national and international exhibitions, including Photo Brussels Festival (2024), ADI Design Museum (Milan, 2023), 副本INSTANCE (Shanghai,2021) and Photo Ireland Festival (2019). She has been co-founder and co-director of Ardesia Projects since 2016.

Noemi Comi (Catanzaro in 1996) is a visual artist and photographer. She studied at LABA , Libera Accademia di Belle Arti in Florence, where she graduated in Photography with honorable mention. She is currently attending the Biennium of Photography at the Brera Academy of Fine Arts. Her work has been exhibited in group and solo exhibitions including Phest Bari,Somerset House London, Photometria Festival Loannina ,Foto Wien Vienna, Interphoto Festival Bialystok, MIA Fair Milan, Palazzo Tadea Spilimbergo and Biennale della Fotografia Femminile Mantova. Since 2020 she has been a winner or finalist in awards such as Sony World Photography Awards, Gomma Grant, Marco Pesaresi Award, New Post Photography Award, Franceso Fabbri Prize for Contemporary Arts, OD Photo Prize, Gibellina Photoroad and Castelfiorentino Prize. Noemi’s works are characterized by the presence of strong colors and surreal atmospheres. A continuous journey between reality and fiction that documents the deepest aspects of contemporary society.

Massimiliano Corteselli (Tivoli, 1994) is a visual artist who currently uses photography for his research on the relationship between man and nature in the context of the Anthropocene. He lives in Berlin, where in 2023 he graduated in documentary photography from the Ostkreuzschule für Fotografie. In 2022 he received a grant from the VG Bild-Kunst/Kulturwerk Foundation for his project Contrapasso, which will be featured in numerous exhibitions: Gute Aussichten, Landesmuseum Koblenz; Palm* Photo Prize 2024, Melkweg Expo, Amsterdam; Les Boutographies, Pavillon Populaire, Montpellier; Fotohaus Bordeaux, Hotel de Regueneau, Bordeaux. His work has been exhibited at Guardini Gallery and Fotogalerie Friedrichshain, Berlin, and in 2023 at Technische Sammlungen Dresden. He is a first prize winner of Muenzenberg Forum Photography Award 2023.

Camilla Marrese (Bologna, 1998) is an Italian photographer and designer. After her three-year degree in Graphic Design and Visual Communication at ISIA Urbino, she earned her master’s degree in Information Design at Design Academy Eindhoven with Best Thesis mention. Her practice intersects documentary photography, editorial design and writing in an attempt to visually articulate complex concepts. Her work has been shown in group exhibitions at Dutch Design Week, Eindhoven, Fotografia Europea, Reggio Emilia, Espaço Alto, São Paulo, PhMuseum Lab, Bologna, Spazio MAD Magadino, Locarno, and Kranj Foto Fest, Slovenia. She is the winner of the PhMuseum Criticae 2022 award.

Cinzia Romanin (Brussels, 1995) is a Belgian-Italian visual artist who graduated in architecture before pursuing studies in photography at the Venice school. Definitely influenced by this specific background, her photographic work is characterized by a particular interest in ecological, social and territorial dimensions. Through the lens of her analog view camera used as a slow and social medium, her gaze immerses us in a sensitive universe engaged in reconsidering the issues of our future world. Cinzia Romanin’s work has been exhibited at Valerie Traan Gallery, the Arsenal Pavilion in Paris, the Design Museum in Ghent, Z33 Contemporary Art Center, 254Forest Gallery, Diaphane Photographic Center, Encontros Da Imagem festival in Braga, and PhMuseum Days festival in Bologna. She was also a finalist for awards such as PEP News Talents 2023 and Encontros da Imagem Discovery Award 2023.

Alessandro Truffa (Cuorgnè, Turin, 1996) is a photographer and visual artist living in Turin. His research focuses on themes related to caring relationships and ritual traditions, exploring possible connections between photographic language and different disciplinary fields such as history and anthropology. Her work has been published and exhibited nationally and internationally in exhibitions and fairs such as Sprint,Polycopies and Enter. In 2021 he participated in the residency project Archivio Atena, later publishing the result of the residency with Altana Club. In 2022 his project Fire vs. Fire is selected for publication with Giostre Editions. In 2023 he graduates from ISIA Urbino thanks to whose support he publishes his thesis entitled Boja Fauss with Corraini Edizioni.

Image: Alessandro Truffa, Nioko Bokk

In Reggio Emilia, an exhibition at the Palazzo dei Musei addresses the issue of climate emergency

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