MIA | Milan Image Art Fair 2021

MIA FAIR is finally back!
Italy's most important photography art fair, directed by Fabio and Lorenza Castelli, comes back with in-presence visits, after the cancellation of the 2020 edition due to the health emergency.
A year of suspension that has not passed in vain. Professionals, collectors and simple photography enthusiasts will find from 7^th to 10^th  October 2021 many interesting new features.
A very special edition, starting from the artist chosen for the visual image of the event: the British photographer Rankin, who has always stood out, throughout his long career, for his bold approach behind the lens. An inspiring project capable of creating incisive images, portraits that develop a rightfully contemporary iconography. Rankin’s images come from his Saved by the Bell project, proposing a new indefinite visage.

MIA FAIR could not forget to pay homage to one of its dearest friends, Giovanni Gastel, who recently passed away: the exhibition project that the Milanese photographer had conceived for the 2020 edition will indeed be proposed in the October edition.
 
- SUPERSTUDIO MAXI. MIA Fair’s new home
To celebrate its tenth anniversary, MIA Fair has chosen to move to a new location: the SUPERSTUDIO MAXI in Milan (via Moncucco 35), in the Famagosta area, which is preparing to become one of the city's new cultural hubs.
The 7,000 m² of exhibition space will offer the opportunity to further expand the disciplinary fields of MIA Fair, focusing on the research process and the role of photography across the different artistic disciplines, offering the public a mosaic of the current state and of the prospects of photography.
MIA Fair thus confirms its strategic role, proposing year after year a program of high quality, capable of accompanying the technical, stylistic and content evolutions of the photographic language that best interprets today's society.
 
"2020 was a very complicated year, from which we all suffered the consequences – Fabio and Lorenza Castelli affirm. MIA Fair was also affected by the pandemic, first by postponing its opening, then by giving in to the cancellation. Instead of depressing us, this suspension gave us a greater incentive and energy to present an entirely new and extremely special event. And it could not have been otherwise.
The next one, to be held in autumn - this is the first novelty - will be the tenth edition of MIA Fair, which will move to a new home: the SUPERSTUDIO MAXI in the Famagosta area of Milan, a rapidly evolving district that is set to become one of the city's most proactive cultural centers soon".
 
“During all these years," continue Fabio and Lorenza Castelli, "we have been very attentive to everything that moves around the universe of photography. And that is why we wanted to widen MIA Fair's areas of research with two new sections: MIDA Milan Image Design Art which analyses the dialogue between photography and design, and the other - Beyond Photography/Dialogue, curated by Domenico De Chirico - which explores the relationship between photography and other media of contemporary art".
 
- THE EXHIBITORS
The Main Section, the heart of the fair, features a panel of 90 galleries, both Italian and international.
The changed and improved health conditions, combined with the attractiveness of our cultural offer, have convinced many foreign exhibitors from countries such as Switzerland, the Netherlands, France, United States, Belgium, Germany, Slovenia, Greece, Montenegro, United Kingdom, Hungary, Norway and Turkey, to return to Milan to showcase the best the world of photography has to offer.
The presence of galleries from the Netherlands (Artitled from Herpen, Smith-Davidson Gallery and Suite59 Gallery from Amsterdam) is patronized by the Consulate of the Kingdom of the Netherlands.
 
This year MIA Fair visitors will also find a new section on the fair website embracing a phygital strategy aiming at creating a complete customer experience connecting the physical and the digital world. Potential buyers will be able to view online the artworks set up in different architectural environments. The new virtual tour will also give possibility to interact digitally with the galleries through a chat. This new section of the website will be previewed one month before the opening of the event.
 
- MIDA - MILAN IMAGE DESIGN ART AND BEYOND PHOTOGRAPHY/DIALOGUE: MIA FAIR’S TWO NEW SECTIONS.
Among the many surprises of MIA Fair, two new sections are worth mentioning.
The first is MIDA - Milan Image Design Art, dedicated to projects that create a dialogue between photography and design and counts 11 exhibitors.
It will include Parallel, an exhibition curated by Mosca&Partners, by Valerio Castelli and Caterina Mosca, with a selection of objects created by contemporary international designers, limited editions, art design, innovative research projects that think in terms of environmental sustainability, and artisans producing small series of very high quality, which relate to works of photography.
Among the exhibitors already confirmed are Emmanuel Babled (Glass Design + Photo Project) with Valentina Zanobelli (Photography) Michele De Lucchi (design) con Tom Vack (Photography), Mario Trimarchi (design) con Santi Caleca (Photography).
This is accompanied by two other exhibitions: the first, curated by the architect Nicola Quadri, a Nordic design enthusiast, and expert, with a focus on Scandinavian design and photography. Its pieces underline the play of contrasts in tastes and styles that marked the design of the Nordic school in the 20th century.
The other, curated by Alessandro Stefanini, is proposed as a Wunderkammer with curious and ironic transformable Victorian furniture that dialogues with the equally ironic eye of the great photographer Elliott Erwitt.
Other exhibitors participating in the new section are Arionte Arte Contemporanea, Atelier Relief in Paris / Brussels, BABS Art Gallery, Deodato Arte, Galleria 1968 Photography - PrimoPiano, Galleria Paola Colombari, Gowen Contemporary in Geneva and Red Lab Gallery.
 
After the success of 2019, Beyond Photography returns, the format that aims to highlight what 'photography' means today, especially concerning the world of contemporary art.
The new section Beyond Photography – Dialogue is curated by Domenico de Chirico and it is reserved to galleries with an activity focused on the promotion of the most recent generations of international artists, whose exhibition project - conceived ad hoc - is a dialogue between photography and another single work realized with other media such as sculpture, installation, painting and video.
From this perspective, Beyond Photography-Dialogue is a privileged place of encounter that sets photography at the center of the exhibition and at the same time creates a “dialogue” with another contemporary art medium, legitimizing the specificity of photography and abstracting it from the confines of its history.
Among the galleries involved: Galleria Michela Rizzo, Marignana Arte, Photo& Contemporary and Galleria Bianchi Zardin.
 
NEW POST PHOTOGRAPHY: a new award and two exhibitions
In line with the principles of reinforcing its role as a cultural platform for discussing photography in its most profound aspects, MIA Fair proposes the New Post Photography Award, which is aimed at promoting the creative tendencies and artistic investigations in the world of contemporary photography.
The jury, composed of Gabi Scardi (contemporary art critic and curator, artistic director of the project Nctm and art), Gigliola Foschi (curator, lecturer, member of the Scientific Committee of MIA Fair), Paolo Agliardi (architect, collector, founder of CAP contemporary art projects),
Carlo Sala (curator, lecturer, artistic director of the Photo Open Up Festival and member of the curatorial committee of the Fondazione Francesco Fabbri Onlus), Giorgio Zanchetti (art historian, lecturer, curator, member of the curatorial committee of the Fondazione Francesco Fabbri Onlus, professor, curator, member of the MUFOCO Board of Directors) and Claudio Composti, the new member of the 2021 Jury (gallery owner and curator), has selected 34 authors - 15 for 2020 edition and 19 for 2021 - whose projects will be presented in two separate exhibitions. The 2020 edition could not be held due to the pandemic.
 
Thanks to the Greek curator Nina Kassianou - a long-time collaborator of the MOMus Thessaloniki Museum of Photography and the Photographic Center of Skopelos and promoter of Return Ithaca - an artist residency on the Greek island will be offered to an artist among the awardees of New Post Photography 2020 and 2021. It will culminate in the production of an international photo project under the guidance of Krzysztof Candrowicz, curator and Art Director of the Łóódź Fotofestiwal in Łódź, Poland, and Martin Breindl, curator and media artist FLUSS, Wolkersdorf, Austria. The result of the residency will be exhibited in a European venue that will change from year to year.
 
The New Post Photography exhibition will also be hosted in Bratislava thanks to the partnership with Mesiac Fotografie (Month of Photography) in Bratislava (Slovakia), founded in 1992 and curated by Václav Macek. The 31st edition of Mesiac Fotografie will be held from 2 – 20 November with a calendar of 30 events, including editorial presentations, film screenings, conferences and exhibitions, focusing on artists from Central and Eastern Europe.
 
- SPONSORS AND PARTNERS
Ever since its first edition, MIA Fair has been able to count on a number of sponsors and partners who have shared its principles and supported its projects.
For the tenth consecutive edition, BNL BNP Paribas Group is a partner of MIA Fair in the role of Main Sponsor, promoting the BNL BNP Paribas Group Award, the event's most important prize, which is awarded by a jury to artists who take part in the fair, exhibiting with their own galleries of reference.
BNL BNP Paribas Group, one of Italy's leading banking groups, has demonstrated in many occasions its commitment to defending Italy's artistic heritage and confirms its engagement in the development of contemporary art in Italy. In particular, it concentrates on photography for its ability to recognize and immediately recount reality, thus confirming its role as a company attentive to society and people, constantly defending and fostering the dissemination of culture and knowledge as means of individual and collective growth with a focus to support those with fewer opportunities.
The award is intended as a new opportunity to confirm the interest of BNL Gruppo BNP Paribas Group in the development of culture and research in contemporary art in Italy.
The winning artwork will be purchased by BNL Gruppo BNP Paribas and the artist will become part of the bank's collection, which today counts more than 5,000 works.
 
Thanks to the support of Eberhard & Co., which has been accompanying MIA Fair for nine years, the 2021 edition will present a new project with iO Donna, curated by Renata Ferri, journalist and photo editor of the magazine.
The exhibition Il lungo addio. Storie dei nostri emigranti dell’Italia del boom is composed by a selection of historical photographs depicting the Italian emigration wave in the immediate post-war period taken from the RCS Periodici Documentation Centre, the RCS Quotidiani and the Corriere della Sera Foundation.
The exhibition project includes a precious text written by Gian Antonio Stella, editorialist of Corriere della Sera and profound connoisseur of the history and stories of our emigrants.
The objective is an invitation to reflect on the phenomenon of emigration from when, in the last century, Italians left the country in search of new opportunities, to our present in which Italy is the first destination on the routes of migrants.
 
- FOCUS ON THE PRESENT AND A VIEW TO THE FUTURE OF PHOTOGRAPHY: MIA FAIR AWARDS
In addition to the quality of the exhibition proposal, which every year brings to Milan the best that the world of photography can express, MIA Fair has always stood out for the importance and variety of its prizes, result of valuable collaborations with different institutions and cultural partners.
 
In addition to the Prize promoted by the Main Sponsor BNL Gruppo BNP Paribas, the winners of the second edition of the G*AA Photography Award for Architecture will be announced at MIA Fair 2021.
The award is organised in partnership with Studio G*AA Giaquinto Architetti Associati and in collaboration with Tiziana Bonomo's ArtPhotò.
In continuity with the project inaugurated during MIA Fair 2019, the award is dedicated to architectural photography and aims at enhancing its ability to make the public discover the space, the atmospheres, the landscapes and the transformations that are experienced on daily basis.
The winner, who will be selected among the artists nominated by the participating galleries, will receive a purchase prize from Studio G*AA. Studio G*AA.
The jury, composed of Angelo Maggi (University of Venice), Damien Bachelot (collector), Elena Franco (architect and photographer), Fabio Castelli (Founder and co-director of MIA Fair), Francesca Taroni (director of Living Living magazine, Corriere della Sera) and Tiziana Bonomo (director ArtPhotò), will also indicate an Honourable Mention.
The artworks of the winning project and those of the Honourable Mention will be presented in an exhibition space dedicated to the Award, set up at SUPERSTUDIO MAXI.
 
Among the novelties, MIA Fair will host the first edition of the Esplorare Gavi - Immagini d'autore dal Piemonte Award, promoted by the Gavi Protection Consortium - the great white wine from Piedmont - and in collaboration withMIA Fair; The Round Table organization and communication; the ENIT - National Tourism Agency - patronage and with the support of the Professional Photographers Association TAU VISUAL and AFIP. The initiative aims at promoting the Gavi Docg territory through the art of photography, making it an instrument of narration and communication. The language of art photography can change the perception of values, history and the peculiar characteristics of a territory by distinguishing it from other places. The jury will select the winning artist, whose images will be exhibited during MIA Fair, and gain further visibility opportunities in Gavi. Applications are open until August 31, 2021.
Gavi Consortium is the white wine partner of the event. During the fair opening days there will be Gavi Consortiumwine tastings, accompanied by Piedmont local food to offer multi-sensory experiences between art and food in each exhibition space.
Fondazione Maimeri promotes the first edition of the PUNCTUM Prize – Sinestesie Cromatiche, with the University of Milan (Department of Cultural and Environmental Heritage and Department of Historical Studies) scientific patronage, in collaboration with MIA Fair and with the participation of the Professional Photographers Association TAU Visual. The call for application is addressed to professional photographers who want to inquire themselves about the relationship between photography and color. The 10 winning photographers’ works will be presented in an exhibition during MIA FAIR next edition.
- MIA FAIR’S NEW COLLABORATIONS
MIA Fair 2021 opens the collaboration with Museo delle Culture di Lugano (MUSEC), which takes shape with the Artificial Japan. Photographs of the Yokohama School. 1860-1910 exhibition which offers to the public a selection of extraordinarily beautiful works from the photographic collection of "Ada Ceschin and Rosanna Pilone" Foundation from Zurich, kept at MUSEC. In the second half of the nineteenth century Japan, first in Yokohama and then in the rest of the country, the photographic technique that had just emerged in the West met the age-old mastery of local painters. It resulted in albumen photographs embellished with colors that were applied with a brush. They were intended for the first Western tourists, eager to fix the memory of those enchanted territories.
In light of renewing the usability of the fair, COLOMBO EXPERIENCE SRL - a company specialized in the conception and realization of residential and business projects, through a network of Made in Italy professionals and artisans - will create a luxury lounge area and will support the new online phygital MIA Fair project, creating virtual environments in which visitors can view and appreciate the works presented by the galleries.
 
 
- MIA FAIR FLAGSHIP: THE CULTURAL PROGRAM
Within the rich cultural program, which is one of the excellences of MIA Fair, a special place will be given to the third edition of the format Art and Science. It is aimed at investigating the relationship between art photography and the different branches of science, thanks to the collaboration with the Vita-Salute San Raffaele University. Three in-depth talks will be organized and the conference that analyzes the relationship between literature and photography – disciplines that seem apparently distant, but that are united by the desire to create and tell stories - will be particularly interesting.
In connection with the cultural program, MIA Fair tenth edition will be an opportunity to present the project of NeuroEsthetic Photography NEFFIE at the Vita-Salute San Raffaele University booth and at the Research Center for Advanced Technologies for Health and Well-being of the San Raffaele Hospital one, with the support of Rhea Vendors Group and Gruppo DEDEM. It opens the way for the industrial redesign of other everyday technologies and at the same time it dialogues conceptually with Rhea's limited-edition machine, conceived to make what has always been a daily habit - having coffee - a visual and multisensory experience, in this case linked to contemporary art. The limited-edition machine that Rhea will bring to MIA Fair has been created with the photographer Simona Ghizzoni and it combines the drinking coffee (or simply water) experience with a journey into photography, transforming the machine itself into a photographic exhibition.
Among the most popular cultural program meetings, the Collezione per due format is reconfirmed; the journalist Sabrina Donadel will interview couples of collectors united both by love and by a common passion for photography. This year there will be Ernesto and Claudio Esposito, Teresa Fasano and Michele Bonuomo, Lucia Bonanni and Mauro Del Rio.
The cultural program will also host the What is Europe to you? presentation, a Lisa Borgiani’s photographic project curated by Gigliola Foschi and realized in collaboration with the Office of the European Parliament in Milan and under the patronage of the Sixth Municipality of Milan. It will be exhibited at the former Fornace Gola (Alzaia Naviglio Pavese, 16 - Milan) from September 22 to October 4, 2021. In this appointment we will talk about Europe at 360° both from a social and cultural point of view, together with Gigliola Foschi, Maurizio Molinari (director of the European Parliament Office in Milan) and Pio Tarantini (critic).
Flash Out | Digital Art Takeover is the title of the event on digital art, curated by Serena Tabacchi (Co-Founder and Director of MoCDA - Museum of Contemporary Digital Art) and Giacomo Nicolella Maschietti (journalist and art market expert) and sponsored by MIA Fair. Flash Out will be held next October in different places in the city of Milan; it aims at bringing digital art to the general public, providing for training sessions, workshops, and exclusive visits to the studios of the best Italian artists working in the digital field, as well as to galleries and companies in the sector. MIA Fair cultural program will also include an in-depth meeting on the subject and its most recent developments, in order to make the community participate to the epochal change we are facing, with regard to contemporary immaterial society.
 
The complete conference program will be available online at miafair.it.
 
- PUBLISHING AREA
The publishing section is confirmed with 15 exhibitors from Italy, Poland, Germany and Russia, including independent publishers and specialized bookshops that will present original books and projects.
- PARTNER
White wine partner Consorzio Tutela del Gavi; scientific partner UniSR – Vita-Salute San Raffaele University; Technical Sponsors: BIG CiaccioArte, Colombo Experience, Studio Berné, Studio G*AA Giaquinto Architetti Associati.
 

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