Born from the idea of preserving the heritage of two fundamental events in the sector: Artelibro, the Art Book Festival that took place in Bologna from 2003 to 2014, and FLAT – Turin Art Book Fair, an international event that animated the Piedmontese capital. from 2017 to 2019 – BOOKS intends to position itself in a “lateral” segment, although not strictly alternative to the phenomenon of fairs, with the aim of proposing, thanks to the book as a medium, contents and opportunities that facilitate direct knowledge -based on relationships and the exchange, between artists and collectors, without renouncing a market vocation.
For the first edition of BOOKS, the large spaces of the Sala delle Ciminiere will welcome some 40 Italian and international exhibitors, booksellers and publishers from the sector, present with real projects on the art book: not stands, but discussion tables focused on a limited number of titles, without exceeding 100 units per exhibitor.
Next to the exhibitors’ tables, again in the Sala delle Ciminiere, there will be eight exhibition focuses: from the presentation of all the artist books by Franco Vaccari to the 5 books born in the 1970s from the collaboration between Claudio Parmiggiani and Mario Deacon; from limited edition books by Paolo Ventura to all the books edited by Luigi Ghirri during his activity as an artist and photographer; from Daniela Comani’s artist books from the 1990s to the present, to a selection of the production of Jacopo Benassi and a posthumous tribute to the artist Irma Blank, who passed away a few days ago.
A monographic focus will also be reserved for Giorgio Maffei, with nearly 50 books edited by him: books about books, dedicated to the production of masters such as Bruno Munari, Alighiero Boetti and Sol LeWitt.
The BOOKS installation will be organized in such a way as to favor convivial exchanges: a living room will find space in the center of the Sala delle Ciminiere so that meetings with authors and collectors can take place in dialogue with the exhibition spotlights, without solution. of continuity.
A program of talks and discussions will enrich the three days of stimuli and will have as its central axis the lectio by Anne Moeglin-Delcroix, author of Esthétique du livre d’artiste (1997), an essay that since its first edition has been consolidated throughout the world. world as the reference of the study on the subject.
The first edition of the Bologna art book festival has a scientific committee made up of Silvia Alessandri, Mario Diacono, Liliana De Matteis and Giovanna Pesci.
The BOOKS guide image was created by Paolo Ventura.
The sound environment that will accompany the festival is created by Carolina Martines.
The project implies collaboration with the galleries and cultural institutions of the city.
BOOKS is part of the Bologna Portici Festival – Heritage Meets Creativity, the event promoted and coordinated by the Municipality of Bologna to celebrate the UNESCO World Heritage Portici as part of the Bologna Estate event program. The portico of the Ex Forno del Pane, a historic building that houses the MAMbo, is among those selected on the UNESCO list.
Thanks for the collaboration: Maramotti Collection, Luigi Ghirri Archive, Studio G7 Gallery, P420 Gallery, Maffei Studio Bibliografico.
www.booksfestival.it
BOOKS
Bologna Art Book Festival
Art Book Festival, Bologna
first edition
edited by Danilo Montanari and Lorenzo Balbi
May 26, 27 and 28, 2023
Bologna Civic Museums Sector | MAMbo – Bologna Museum of Modern Art
via Don Minzoni 14, Bologna
presentation and press preview: Friday, May 26, 11:00 a.m.
Opening: Friday May 26, 12:00
Friday May 26, 12:00 – 19:00
Saturday 27 and Sunday 28 May, from 10:00 a.m. to 7:00 p.m.
access with MAMbo collection ticket
www.mambo-bologna.org
