MIA Photo Fair, The International Photography Art Fair in Italy in its 13th edition is back from 11 to 14 April, with several new proposals. With its significant theme of 2024, Changing, it will be held at the Allianz MiCo venue in Milan with about 70 galleries from Italy and abroad, more than 100 exhibitors, eight exhibitions and four prizes dedicated to photography.
Visiting the MIA Fair is an opportunity to get in touch with (that’s just a figure of speech, of course) vintage prints and creativity, connections between artistic languages and very different points of view. For the 2024 edition of the MIA Photo Fair, under the artistic direction of Francesca Malgara, the proposals go beyond the ones listed above. As Ilaria Dazzi, exhibition director manager of MIA, explains, “photographers use the camera as a tool for documentation and denunciation. The public, through the photographic projects on display, can buy images and also immerse themselves in the great themes of our time”.
In fact, this year Mia Photo Fair allows different reading levels, starting with the Sections, dealing with powerful contemporary issues. In Across the Mediterranean (curated by Rischa Paterlini), around 30 photographers – some of whom are exhibiting in Italy for the first time – use photography as a universal language that transcends geographical and cultural boundaries, highlighting how this sea can be a connection, bridging dialogue between cultures and encouraging reflection on identity and society. Among the works on display are those by authors such as Gabriele Basilico, Ramak Fazel, Xenia Nikolskaya.
In Beyond Photography – Dialogue, a section curated by Domenico de Chirico, the exhibition project, designed specifically for MIA, aims to create a dialogue between a monographic photographic proposal and one whose expressive medium is manifested through alternative forms of artistic research. Among the authors: Julien Spiewak and Shirin Neshat.
The section Reportage Beyond Reportage, curated by Emanuela Mazzonis of Pralafera, is like a journey through the images by photographers of different generations and nationalities, with a focus on the changing landscape. The exhibition includes work by photographer and activist Anne de Carbuccia on the irreversible melting of glaciers and the man’s attempt to slow the process, and by Jeffrey Milstein.
The fair programme also includes some interesting exhibitions, such as The Frame of Relationships (curated by Rica Cerbarano), a unique selection of more than 50 works from the most important private collections in Italy, celebrating the relational power of photography. On display are photographic projects that are the result of a deep connection between the authors and the subjects of the images, such as in the works by Ettore Sottsass and Efrem Raimondi or the portraits of artists by Robert Mapplethorpe.
MIA Photo Fair pays homage to Carlo Bavagnoli with a solo exhibition Bavagnoli e i ritratti: omaggio al maestro del fotogiornalismo, featuring portraits of artists, musicians and intellectuals, in collaboration with the Fondazione Cariparma to which Bavagnoli donated 29,385 negatives from his archive in 2000.
Also new in this 13th edition is the section devoted to cultural institutions and foundations: MuFoCo, the Museum of Contemporary Photography, for instance, presents a selection of works from the Open Call Italy is a Desire.
The Fondazione Sella presents the first images taken by Giuseppe Venanzio Sella in the early days of photography, original plates and prints by Vittorio Sella, one of the first to bring photography to the mountains, and the late 19th-century landscape photographs by his brother Erminio, collected in the exhibition Dalla lana alla fotografia. Ritorno alle origini.
CSAC, the Centro Studi e Archivio della Comunicazione of the University of Parma, presents Fotograf(i)e che cambiano, curated by Cristina Casero and Margherita Zazzero, with photographs taken by Anna Candiani, Marzia Malli, Paola Mattioli, and Giovanna Nuvoletti in Milan in the 1960s and 1970s, documenting events such as political demonstrations and strikes from an alternative point of view to the official information.
The Francesca Rava Foundation, which has been helping children and vulnerable women, in Italy, Haiti and all over the world since 2000, is a charity partner of the 13th edition of MIA Photo Fair and is presenting Another World_ triple layer art (curated by Clelia Patella), a project by Marco Salom, visual artist and volunteer for the Foundation. The subjects are strong and beautiful women who, in an ideal world, have overcome great obstacles and bear proud metaphorical marks. Another World supports Ci prendiamo cura di te, a project of the Foundation in response to health care poverty.
A selection of photographs from the Fondazione Luciana Matalon’s projects includes the exhibition Queen Unseen | Peter Hince. Le Stanze della Fotografia, a joint iniziative between Marsilio Arte and the Fondazione Giorgio Cini, is also on.
Also worth taking a look at the pictures of the prizes, such as the BNL BNP Paribas award now in its 13th edition, and the Irinox Save The Food award, on food in all its forms, with a focus on food waste. The exhibition will also be featured in Parma as part of the Fuori Salone of Cibus, the most important event in Italy dedicated to the agricultural sector. The Welcome to My Unknown award, makes its debut in this edition, exploring the creativity of the under-35s using photography as an artistic language.
MIA also features images from Deloitte’s Photo Grant, with artistic direction by Denis Curti and the BlackCamera team. The Swiss watchmaker house Eberhard & Co. supports the National Museum of Women in the Arts at the MIA Photo Fair with the project New Worlds: Women to Watch 2024. The BDC – The New Italian Choice and the miramART awards are also on stage.
MIA Photo Fair is also an opportunity to take a closer look at a subject, such as photography, which is all too often taken for granted but is in fact susceptible to an infinite number of approaches, not least because the medium is currently undergoing a profound transformation. In addition to a series of meetings with the protagonists of photography and culture, there is the Programma culturale. I Talks: the meetings are gathered under the evocative title ” C’era una volta la carta / Once upon a time there was paper”.
MIA Photo Fair, the international art event dedicated to photography in Italy, is organized by Fiere di Parma.
Paola Sammartano
MIA PHOTO FAIR XIII EDITION
11 – 14 April 2024
ALLIANZ MiCo Milano Congressi
Via Gattamelata, 13
Gate 16
20149 Milan, Italy
