May in Milan is synonymous of photography, images and art. With an event not to be missed in order to have an interesting overview on what’s going on in the world of fine art photography and of collecting and collectors: it is MIA 2014, the Milan Image Art Fair.
The weather is fine for a walk in the creative district of the town up to the venue, situated in the Superstudio Più area. People getting in, other people walking with parcels in their arms containing just purchased prints or books: a quite interesting aspect of this fair, because it seems that here pixel and paper can go together well, that digital and analogic are no more in contrast, but on the contrary, they create synergy. Even books regain their prestige within the field of the communication and the images, with the presence of specialized bookshops and the books taking part to the Fotobook festival Dummy Award 2014.
That’s the first impact with MIA, on its its fourth edition. Directed by Fabio Castelli, MIA Fair presents this selection within the world of photography under a format unique on the Italian art-fair scene, as it claim says: one booth for each artist – each artist with his/her own catalogue (which since this year will be in an innovative format, switching from the traditional hard copy to the e-book format). But there are also postcards dedicated to each artist, a sort of memo as well as a kind of collection in themselves. And if you need to know more about an artist, with the QR-code the catalogue pops up on your electronic device.
A look at the map of the fair is essential, for there are more than 180 exhibitors, including galleries, independent photographers and specialist publishers, from Italy as well as from many other countries of the world, all of them to be seen. Some of the photographers and artists on stage are already established, such as Luigi Ghirri or Giovanni Gastel, Francesca Woodman or Todd Hido, Arthur Tress or Robert Gligorov. Others are emerging photographers, as Marco Onofri or Tea Falco. All of them have been selected by a scientific committee consisting of: 3/3 photography projects-Rome, Gigliola Foschi, , Elio Grazioli, Roberto Mutti and Enrica Viganò.
By the way, something new is the fact that there are not only galleries that deal exclusively with fine art photography, but also some with wider interests, like Galleria Continua with Hans Op de Beek or the Galerie Walter Keller with Miroslav Tichý.
Aside the opportunity of a global view of international fine art photography, another interesting feature of MIA Fair is the chance of interacting with galleries, curators and photographers in the dedicated areas (i.e. the Caffè Artistico project or Codice MIA), but also talking with the exhibitors. Maybe looking forward to the next edition of MIA fair thinking of your own presence within some of the initiatives created to involve everyone.
The event, with the patronage of Regione Lombardia, Provincia di Milano and Comune di Milano, has BNL Gruppo BNP Paribas, Lavazza, BMW i, Eberhard & Co. and Nikon as its partners.
FESTIVAL
MIA Fair 2014
From 23rd to 25th May 2014
Superstudio Più
Via Tortona 27
Milan, Italy
