Photographer for the Magnum Agency, Ferdinando Scianna and his wife, the journalist Paola Bergna, have covered the opening of the Milan Art Fair, for La Lettre de la Photographie.
A few minutes before the grand opening of MIA, Fabio Castelli, MIA’s founder and organizer, told me he is already planning the third edition, to make the fair even more effective. He is happy about the positive atmosphere : a small miracle in Italy where everyone is only talking about the economic downturn. Castelli believes that the success depends primarily on the lack of cultural filters: while some art galleries show the works of classic photographers, others present the work of unknown young photographers who experiment in all directions. And despite the short distance between them, coexistence is possible. It is obvious that 200 small exhibitions can somewhat confuse visitors, but it is true that anyone can decide what makes an image desirable. it is worth taking some risks: on the whole this complexity give a fair view of the state of the art. Another factor is that photographs are sold at prices still affordable to many. Castelli argues that collectors who attend contemporary art exhibitions are frustrated in their pleasure by the high prices of the works on display. The more “popular” prices at MIA breathe new life into the system. We hope Castelli is right: we’ll find out this Sunday when MIA winds down. Nobody is going to miss openings today: not only the entire small-world of Italian photography, but also many intrigued by the whole organization of sponsors and donors. A veritable social occasion for veterans of the events held during last month’s Milan Furniture Fair. There are also organizers of other Asian and European exhibitions, who are interested in the one-artist/one-gallery formula that, has already found its own specificity with this second edition, and is beginning to open up to a wide range of international exhibitors and authors. A nice surprise, for example, is to find photos for sale by Art Kane, whose archives were reopened thanks to the renowned photographer Guido Harari, now a gallery owner himself. Another surprise was to discover forgotten authors like Stefano Rubino, an amateur photographer who took extraordinary images of Italy in the 50s and 60s.
Paola Bergna
