Interview of Alessandra Mauro, artistic director of Forma Foundation for Photography
Fondazione FORMA per la Fotografia: the foundation’s history and mission in the words of Artistic Director Alessandra Mauro, who is also Editorial Director of Contrasto. Interview by Valentina Notarberardino.
Milan’s FORMA Foundation for photography, Italy’s very own photography house, was founded in 2005 by Contrasto in collaboration with Corriere della Sera Foundation and the ATM (Milan’s Public Transportation Authority). The foundation is housed within a totally restructured wing of the historic tram depot in Milan’s Ticinese neighborhood. In 2010, after five years in operation, FORMA acquired official status as a foundation. FORMA is a place dedicated entirely to photography; it offers continual programming of major exhibits of Italian and international artists, and various areas dedicated to exhibits, discussions, and educational activities. FORMA also houses a library dedicated to photography books, and a gallery of works for sale.
From Contrasto to FORMA: how did the idea come about?
FORMA was officially born on July 14, 2005. By that time, Contrasto had already been thinking about this project for a while, because we wanted to have a place where we could give a continuity to our exhibits, we had been producing for a while. When you hold exhibits in public spaces, which is our natural calling, it can be very difficult to reach your target audience, since the programming is subject to the demands of the space. There was a desire to create a space that could present more homogenous programming. Along the way, we found partners who gave us a hand, such as the Corriere della Sera Foundation, which continues as our press partner today. In addition, the ATM, Milan’s Public Transportation Authority, provided us with the very beautiful historic location rented by FORMA, in the building connected to the still-existing depot of Porta Ticinese in Milan.
What was the premier exhibit?
We opened in July 2005 with the feeling that we had to open with an Italian photographer to celebrate Italy, Italian photography, and, above all, Milan’s central role in the photography world. So the first exhibit was a great homage to photographer Gianni Berengo Gardin, Milanese by adoption, and the most representative artist of photographic story-telling in the past fifty years. We presented the show in Paris at the MEP in February 2005, even before it premiered at FORMA. We wanted to show our core interest in international exchange right from the start. Over the years came numerous other exhibits, many of them our own productions, but also some co-productions with other important international institutions.
Each year, we try to reserve a special venue for the significant exhibit of an Italian photographer: after Berengo Gardin, we chose Mimmo Jodice, followed by a beautiful exhibit of Paolo Pellegrin, which traveled to Holland and France as well.
The current exhibit is dedicated to Nino Migliori. Future projects?
The exhibit on view at FORMA until January 2013 is Nino Migliori. La materia dei sogni: installazioni, sperimentazioni, fotografie. True to our original calling, we wanted to dedicate a large space to Migliori, an extraordinary figure in Italian photography. Now 86-years-old, he began making his first pictures in the ’50s, in the classic ’50s-style Italian photography, rediscovering realism via children, old people, daily life, etc. In this regard, Migliori took some extraordinary photos, but at the same time he was also experimenting with technique, for example with his oxidations and “off-camera” works, as well as with photography as a language, creating a series of installations. The latter experimentation continues in his work today. The exhibit brings together all of these pieces, the various photographic spirits of this great artist. Among our upcoming programming is a major retrospective on Gordon Parks, the Life photographer who was also a film director and writer; he was the first black photographer to look unflinchingly at the social questions of race. We are presenting this great retrospective in collaboration with the Gordon Parks Foundation; this will be the first European retrospective, and will be presented not only in Milan, but also in Germany, Belgium, France, and other countries. FORMA does not simply host exhibits; we also produce them. Another exhibit that we are working on, curated by Francesco Zanot and myself, called “Camera in Revolt” will address the subject of pop art and photography, namely the use of photography by pop artists, from Andy Warhol to his more photographic epigones like Steven Shore and Eggleston. This exhibit, too, will travel.
Valentina Notarberardino
