The landscapes of the Po and those of the Apennines, stories of daily life and others from distant continents, artistic installations and creative videos. They all coexist in the European Photography Off circuit. An event within the event. Alongside the program of official exhibitions there is a parallel one created by the territory, with 260 exhibitions: 150 in the center of Reggio, over 60 “outside the walls” and 40 in various centers of the province, from Guastalla to Canossa, from Sant’Ilario to Casina.
A taste? Erika Sereni, an architect from Color, returns to the State Archives this year with “River Pearls”. The winter fog, the summer beaches, evocative sunsets: an excursus of photos taken at different times of the year. Connecting to the theme of the 2024 edition “Nature loves to hide” and to Heraclitus, Sereni proposes a series of shots of the nature of the Po with a common thread: the flow of the river (“Panta Rei”, everything flows) is like things they change, in nature and within ourselves.
Opposite the State Archives, in via Cairoli (theater area), there is the Spazio Gerra, a place for never banal meetings: the exhibition on photography and artificial intelligence is included in the main program of the exhibition but entry is free and it is worth visiting the three exhibition floors.
A few hundred meters away is via Roma, the popular soul of the center of Reggio, which this year hosts 14 exhibitions in the entrance halls of buildings and shops. The Via Roma Zero association wanted to combine photography with other types of art, in particular collage. An example: in “Water returns to water” by Serafina Figliuzzi (photographer) and Laura Serraino (illustrator and collagist), the presentation says, “collages and drawings represent life, the symbiosis between human nature and vegetal nature from bud to maturity. The collages float in drops of resin creating a material and narrative connection with the photographs.”
In via San Filippo 27, at the Mat Lab the exhibition curated by Maurizio Mantovi shines a light on the photos of Anna Maria Ferraboschi, which recall material art. A nail in a wall, an imperfection in the asphalt or the materials of a construction site can become something completely different: conceptual shots, open to the interpretations of the artist as well as those who observe. Shots that are anything but banal: as always, intuition, study, the right colors and the technique that comes from experience are needed. In the video, Anna Maria Ferraboschi presents her exhibition “Altra pelle”.
The Off circuit has another beating heart: the Atelier Duegobbitre. Where? In via dei Due Gobbi, number 3… It is a charming condominium in an old building in the center of Reggio; the exhibitions are set up from the cellars to the small apartments on the various floors. In the entrance and in the internal courtyard there are shots by photographers of Syria, which open a window on the tormented Middle Eastern country. The program offers 17 exhibitions inspired by “Nature loves to hide”: shots of plants and flowers, video installations, landscapes of the Reggio Emilia area… and then the Via Crucis by Ermanno Foroni, with ordeals faced by people of (not too ) far away, from Africa to South America.
Don’t miss the exhibitions in the Santa Maria gallery, with access from Piazza Prampolini, with the stories of young Sikhs, a “window” open on the Opg, the abandoned places and those of “Mungibeddu”.
And this is just a taste… The “Off” program is even richer…
Where and when
The map of the places involved in the Off circuit, the details on the exhibitions and the respective opening hours are on the website https://off2024.fotografiaeuropea.it/
On May 1st, Fotografia Europea opens the main exhibitions from 10am to 8pm. For Off exhibitions it is best to consult the website: in this case the opening days and times vary.
Saturday 4 May will be Off Night
All the protagonists of the OFF Circuit will meet to celebrate this edition during the OFF NIGHT on May 4th, an evening entirely dedicated to the network of collaborators, exhibitors, photographers, organizers and citizens, who have built the Circuit around the institutional event of European Photography. It starts at 5pm from the Ex Aci, in via Secchi for the presentation of the Nuvolicadira exhibition, organized by the E35 Foundation.
At 6.30 pm the Bandakadabra marching band will leave from Via dei due Gobbi and will cross the streets of the center and some identifying spaces of the OFF with the group’s overwhelming music and its entertaining comic-theatrical performances until arriving in Piazza del Popol Giost. The awards ceremony for the winner of the 2024 edition of the OFF Circuit will take place here at 8pm. A specialized jury, chaired by the artistic director Walter Guadagnini, will select the most interesting works and award the most deserving project – personal or collective – the Max Sperafico prize (in memory of the historic collaborator of the Festival). The winner will be able to develop a new exhibition and exhibit it during the next edition of the European Photography OFF Circuit in 2025.
