The second edition of FOTO/INDUSTRIA Biennale in Bologna invites artists to explore the world of work in all its aspects with a particular focus on the industrial production chain from conception to recycling. Organised by the MAST Foundation in collaboration with the Bologna Municipality, under the artistic direction of François Hébel, the biennale hosts 14 contemporary exhibitions dedicated to industrial photography, enterprise and work.
Taking place in a series of prominent locations across the historic city of Bologna, and featuring two large-scale shows at the MAST Foundation curated by Urs Stahel, this year’s biennale celebrates industrial traditions on a local, national and international scale. From historic palaces and Baroque chapels to museums and gallery spaces, this event, “unique in its genre for its capacity to seize glimpses and impressions of the world of labour and production” as remarked on by Hébel, showcases today’s most talented photographers in some of the city’s most innovative and ordinarily concealed spaces.
Drawing from all corners of the photographic world, FOTO/INDUSTRIA compiles an extensive survey of work by widely renowned photographers, reporters, portraitists, corporate photographers and young professionals, to name a few. The line-up for 2015 includes David LaChapelle’s latest series Landscape at Pinacoteca Nazionale, which uses hand-crafted scale models to explore the infrastructure of oil production and distribution; Edward Burtynsky’s documentation of the gritty underside of industrial landscapes in Manufactured Landscapes at Palazzo Pepoli Campogrande; and Hong Hao’s colourful representations of modern consumption in My Things, Bottom at MAMbo.
This year’s presentations are divided into the thematic groups of Post-Production, Production, Producers, Pause, and Products, and will also feature the Young Photographers Fourth Edition of the GD4PhotoArt Contest, and works from the Savina Palmieri Collection. Alongside its vast exhibition programme, the biennale will host an abundance of opportunities to meet exhibiting practitioners and curators in a series of talks and special events throughout the month of October.
FOTO/INDUSTRIA Biennale, 2 October – 1 November, various venues and the MAST Foundation, Bologna.
Find out more at www.fotoindustria.it.
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Credits
1. Edward Burtynsky, Open mine of Super Pit n.1, Kalgoorlie, Western Australia, 2007. Copyright of the artist, courtesy of Nicholas Metivier Gallery, Toronto / Howard Greenberg Gallery and Bryce Wolkowitz Gallery, New York.
