MIA Photo Fair –Italy’s international photography art fair, at its 9thedition, is back in Milan. “Throughout its eight-year history it has been growing as an exhibition event as well as a cultural platform responding to the latest signals from the photography as a contemporary art language. Its success can also be assessed by its figures: more than 400 exhibitors and 170,000 visitors have been attending MIA Photo Fair over eight years”, Fabio Castelli, director of MIA, says, ”
MIA Photo Fair’s selection committee selected 85 galleries for the 2019 edition:almost one third hails from abroad (from 12 European countries, from 4 overseas nations). There are also 50 more exhibitors (special projects, media partners and publishing). Indeed, lots of proposals allowing visitors a broad and in-depth overview of what’s on in photography and photo collecting all around the world.
New sections have been included, such as Beyond Photography, dealing with what is meant by ‘photography’ today, mainly in relation to contemporary art: it includes a group of galleries representing artists whose research embraces other mediums besides photography. Among them: A100 gallery (Luca Coclite, Federica De Carlo and Matteo Nasini), CE Contemporary (Rania Matar), Galleria Clivio(Julien Blaine, Sylvano Bussotti, Lamberto Pignotti), Maria Livia Brunelli MLB Gallery (Anna Di Prospero and Jacopo Valentini), Galleria Massimo Minini (Vanessa Beecroft, Elisabetta Catalano, Bertrand Lavier and Ariel Schlesignere), Progetto Arte elm (Ivan Falardi and Giò Pomodoro).
Among the issues of Mia proposals, there are architecture and design, with the exhibit curated by Fabio Novembre, architect and designer, who also happens to be a photography fan and collector, and the first edition of the MIA Photo Fair Architecture Photography award (in partnership with Attilio Giaquinto’s Studio G*AA and Tiziana Bonomo’s ArtPhotò).
The partnership between MIA Photo Fair 2019 and The Photo Independent,the Los Angeles fair exploring new generations of independent photographers, produced the namesake space at MIA presenting a selection of authors from those who showed in California. The Republic of Korea (this year guest nation at MIA) is promoting Focus Korea,in partnership with the Korea Foundation, affiliated with the South Korean Foreign Ministry, presenting works by some of the most interesting Korean artists in the new generation. Everyday Uniqueness project is on at the IQOS lounge and it is based on the visual interpretation of the concept of uniqueness. It has been created for IQOS by Paolo Pellegrin, who has various prizes to his name, including ten World Press Photo awards.
The performance-based project by Settimio Benedusi for HPisa special edition of Ricordi? Benedusi created the format to shine new light on the privilege of a printed photographic portrait. Indeed, with new technologies images begin to show their precariousness, abandoned on digital devices, risking so to lose many of our lifetime’s memories. The project hopes to save the printed photograph as a physical, tactile object. One hundred visitors have the chance to sit for a photo portrait, by booking it. Other highlights are the presentation of the Rossana Orlandi prize and the Premio RaM Sarteano, founded by MIA Photo Fair in partnership with the Municipality of Sarteano.
Also back is Codice MIA– 6thedition, the event for artists who want to meet face to face with collectors and curators of corporate collectionsfrom around the world. It is completed by the Charles Jing Grantfor the best portfolio, in addition to the Codice MIA Prize. Another event is Proposta MIA, dedicated to independent photographers chosen by the selection committee.
Within the Mia Photo Fair cultural program, the Arte e Scienzaspace explores the links between fine art photography and the various branches of science: this year discussion is focusing on the issue of neurosciences, developed in partnership with the Università Vita-Salute San Raffaele of Milan, scientific partner for the project. Academics will be discussing art, neurosciences and philosophy. Other events include the focus on the new contemporary photography collection at the Vatican Museums.
Since its beginning MIA Photo Fair has been interested in the world of collecting. This year the fair includes a show, coordinated by Giuliana Picarelli, featuring works by top names in Italian and international photography all on loan from prestigious private collections.The section dedicated to Publishing presents exhibitors selected by the Anglo-French curator Magali Avezou; they include international publishing houses, independent publishers and specialist bookshops.
Mia Photo Fair, conceived and directed by Fabio Castelli and Lorenza Castelli, has thepatronage of the Comune and the Città Metropolitana di Milano and Regione Lombardia. BNL BNP Paribas Group, main sponsor, is promoting the BNL BNP Paribas Group Award, assigned to artists featured in the fair with the galleries that represent them, while Olympus presents the exhibition Dialoghi visivi. Fotografie della Collezione Castelli. Thanks to the support of Eberhard & Co.,MIA also commemorates Leonardo da Vinci in his 500th anniversary, displaying reproductions from his Codex Atlanticus. This selection illustrates the Master’s notes and studies on perspective and optics.
Paola Sammartano
Paola Sammartano is a journalist specialized in arts and photography based in Milan, Italy
Mia Photo fair 2019
From 22to 25 March 2019
Inauguration: 21 March 2019, 6pm – 10pm
The Mall – Porta Nuova Varesine – piazza Lina Bo Bardi, Milan
Italy
