The Fotografia Europea festival returns to Reggio Emilia. Theme will be the relationship between man and nature

From April 26 to June 9, 2024, Reggio Emilia focuses on contemporary changes with the 19th edition of EUROPEAN PHOTOGRAPHY, exploring the theme Nature Loves to Hide, chosen by the artistic direction again this year composed of Tim Clark, Walter Guadagnini and Luce Lebart. The title is meant to allude to the power of a nature that many times conceals its essence from our eyes, but increasingly reveals it in destructive ways.European Photography 2024, a festival promoted and organized by the Palazzo Magnani Foundation and the Municipality of Reggio Emilia, with the contribution of the Emilia-Romagna Region, therefore aims to explore, through the many solo and group exhibitions of this edition, the connections between concealment and discovery that dominate our relationship with Nature, imagining new narratives, outside the dominant attitude of control that our species exercises over the planet, in order to understand the dynamics and new directions to be taken.

This edition’s landmark exhibition returns to the halls of Palazzo Magnani with the first retrospective ever presented in Italy of Susan Meiselas, an American photographer known for her work in the conflict areas of Central America (1978-1983) and in particular for her powerful shots of the Nicaraguan revolution. The exhibition, titled Mediations, showcases a selection of Meiselas’ works ranging from the 1970s to the present. They reveal her unique approach to photography, constantly challenging the status of her images in various contexts, from the personal to the geopolitical. The photographer engages subjects in ever-evolving narratives, addressing issues ranging from war to human rights, cultural identity to the sex industry. The halls of St. Peter’s Cloisters will host 10 exhibitions. On the ground floor, the exhibition Sky Album. 150 Years of Capturing Clouds, curated by Luce Lebart and Michelle Wilson, celebrates images of clouds and the practice of photographing the sky by scientists and artists. On the second floor, Within Sight by Helen Sear presents a series of multiple and composite works with the intention of exploring the dissolution of the single-lens perspective associated with the camera lens. Yvonne Venegas ’ Sea of Cortez traces an intergenerational story on the border between her family’s experience and that of an entire generation exploiting the territories around the Sea of Cortez. Indian photographer Arko Datto tackles the climate catastrophe and the refugees it causes with his project The Shunyo Raja Monographies entirely dedicated to the Bengal Delta territory, considered one of the epicenters of change. Matteo de Mayda ’s installation explores the impacts of storm Vaia that hit northeastern Italy in late 2018 through images that are part of the project in There’s no calm after the storm. Jo Ractliffe reflects on the South African landscape in Landscaping. With the term landscaping, the artist tries to convey the idea of landscape as something active, also capable of preserving the memory of the past. Natalya Saprunova documents the life of the people in the far north of the Asian continent with Permafrost. Terri Weifenbach explores the connection between our planet’s clouds and the intimate forms of its biological life in Cloud Physics. Lisa Barnard wants to lead to reflection on the essentiality of nature in the creation of bitcoin in An Act of Faith: Bitcoin and the Speculative Bubble. The British photographer documents the exploitation of geothermal energy in Iceland, necessary to sustain the mining process. Bruno Serralongue documents in Community Gardens of Vertus, Aubervilliers the struggle that some gardeners began in 2020 to oppose the bulldozing of more than 4,000 square meters of vegetable gardens in favor of new construction for the Paris 2024 Olympic Games.

The Palazzo da Mosto venue houses this edition’s Committenza, along with an exhibition dedicated to photo books and the two winning projects from the Open Call. The production of Fotografia Europea 2024, curated by Karim El Maktafi, is entitled day by day and focuses on the Inner Areas: heterogeneous regions, far from large urban centers, but representing a quarter of the Italian population. El Maktafi explores the Emilian Apennines, highlighting the link between man and nature and the cultural heritage linked to the rhythms of the mountains. The Index Naturae exhibition, curated by Stefania Rössl and Massimo Sordi, includes 116 recent photography books on the theme of nature, offering insights into the current state of photography and publishing. In addition, the projects selected by the Open Call jury are those of Marta BogdaÅ„ska and Michele Sibiloni. Marta BogdaÅ„ska’s project SHIFTERS starts from the assumption that only by rethinking the position of the human being in the world and thus looking beyond the anthropocentric horizon, a true and profound coexistence can be achieved, thus including animals. Michele Sibiloni, on the other hand, stimulates a reflection on the future of world food and the precarious balance of natural ecosystems through the project Nsenene, curated by Marco Scotti, which documents the hectic moments of grasshopper harvesting activities (Nsenene, precisely) in Uganda, alternated with long periods of waiting and hope.

On the occasion of the 19th edition of Fotografia Europea, Villa Zironi, a jewel of Art Nouveau architecture that will host the exhibition Radici by Silvia Infranco, curated by Marina Dacci, also reopens. The artist has focused her research on natural matter, exploring herbals, pharmacopoeia and ancient healing processes found in manuscripts. The exhibition develops reflections on the phytotherapeutic approach, with attention to magical, symbolic and alchemical implications over the centuries. The works are modulated in a variety of media: works on paper and board, artist’s books, sculptures, and polaroids that often include the herbs themselves.

Several other partner exhibitions, organized by the city’s cultural institutions, will also be offered. At Palazzo dei Musei, Zones of Passage, curated by Ilaria Campioli, reflects on darkness and the night in the collective imagination, starting from the night-setting works of Luigi Ghirri. The winners of the open call of GIOVANE FOTOGRAFIA ITALIANA #11 | PREMIO LUIGI GHIRRI 2024, promoted by the Municipality of Reggio Emilia in collaboration with a number of international festivals, are exhibited in the collective exhibition Contaminazioni, curated by Ilaria Campioli and Daniele De Luigi at Palazzo dei Musei. The works of the seven artists selected by the international jury (Claudia Amatruda with Good Use Of My Bad Health, Benedetta Casagrande with All ThingsLaid Dormant, Noemi Comi with Proxidium, Massimiliano Corteselli with Contrapasso, Camilla Marrese with Field Notes for Climate Observers, Cinzia Romanin with Transcendence and Alessandro Truffa with Nioko Bokk) reflect on intermediate spaces and interactions between humans and nature, using layered approaches in which photography is an integral part. Various prizes will be awarded during the opening days, including the 4,000-euro Luigi Ghirri Prize and the opportunity for a solo exhibition at the Milan Triennale in 2025. With the mention New Trajectories. GFI in Stockholm, promoted by the Italian Cultural Institute in Stockholm, an artist will also be able to carry out a period of study and research during which he or she will have to produce an artistic project that will be displayed in an exhibition curated by the same Institute. Three finalists will have the opportunity to participate in the Photo-Match portfolio reading program in Fotofestiwal Łódź in June 2024, with a scholarship. Finally, Photoworks together with Dalby Forest, Forestry England, are offering two photographers a week-long immersive artist residency in Dalby Forest, UK, with networking opportunities.

The Panizzi Library’s Photo Library presents an exhibition for 2024 that aims to give visibility to Linea di Confine’s collection of Contemporary Photography. Shots collected from 1990 to 2023 are in storage at the Panizzi Library Photographic Archive to be preserved, enhanced and returned to the citizenry. In particular, interpretations of the Secchia River Expansion Tanks by Paola De Pietri in 1994 and Walter Niedermayr in 1997 will be presented. The Gerra Space will host the exhibition NEW THEATERS OF THE REAL. Collaborating with AI, which explores the relationship between nature and artifice through five perspectives of contemporary photography, highlighting the use of artificial intelligence as a tool for understanding the processes of nature and human creativity, but also highlighting its potential risk of alienation from nature itself. Connected to the festival, Collezione Maramotti presents Silvia Rosi’s first Italian institutional solo exhibition, entitled Disintegrated. Created especially for the Collection, the exhibition includes twenty new photographic works, some moving images and a selection of archival photographs collected by the artist in Italy between 2023 and 2024. The exhibition explores the imagery of “Italian-ness” in the contemporary context. Once again this year, European Photography ’s Special Eighteen-twenty-five training project offers young photography enthusiasts a path of learning, sharing and confrontation in the world of photographic art, resulting in a collective exhibition project. Erik Messori, a photojournalist and co-founder of the CAPTA collective, guided the young participants in 10 meetings that embrace multidisciplinarity, knowing that a visual project can be enriched through different artistic languages. The training course will conclude with an exhibition of the 11 young people’s projects in the Isolato San Rocco gallery.

The third edition of the FE+SK Book Award, the award dedicated to the photographic book, promoted by Fotografia Europea in collaboration with Skinnerboox, has just concluded. Among more than 230 nominations, Benedetta Casagrande’s project, All Things Laid Dormant, was selected by the jury “for the evocative and poetic power, the coherence, and the maturity of the language used that make it a work ready to be a book.” In addition, there were book signings, portfolio readings and [PARENTESI] BOOKFAIR, the space dedicated to independent publishers. The third edition of Fotofonia, the music version of the festival curated by Max Casacci, is titled Urban Souls and explores the history, present and future of an Italian music that blends black and soul roots with the complexity of contemporary urban languages through melodies and lyrics. Also this year, CIRCUIT OFF presents a diverse selection of photographic projects, by professionals and young emerging artists, all called upon to explore the delicate balance between Man and Nature. The works will be exhibited in a range of unconventional locations, including stores, restaurants, studios, courtyards, private homes, historic venues and art galleries. The OFF@school project also involves schools in the province of Reggio Emilia. An evening dedicated to the OFF Circuit will be held on May 4, during which the winner of the Max Spreafico prize will be announced. The winner will have the opportunity to create a new exhibition and present it in the next edition of Fotografia Europea in 2025.

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Image: Boats adorned with lights returning from a pilgrimage wait in the shallows for the tide to return so they can go home to their village (2019) © Arko Datto

The Fotografia Europea festival returns to Reggio Emilia. Theme will be the relationship between man and nature

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