Desenzano inaugurates exhibition of 1900–2000 Italian photographs by Alinari
Felice Anelli and Emanuele Giustacchini, respectively mayor and deputy mayor of the Garda capital, Desenzano, officially inaugurated yesterday, Saturday, July 21st, accompanied by the music of the Ensamble a plettro Corelli from Concesio, the photographic exhibition by Fratelli Alinari, set up in the Exhibition Hall of the Palazzo del Turismo, titled, quite significantly: “A Unique Town, Italy – Photographs 1900/2000”.
The ceremony was preceded by a sort of public presentation held in the congress hall of the same building. After Mayor Anelli’s greeting, it featured Culture Councillor Emanuele Giustacchini, Cesare Colombo, the exhibition curator, Italo Zannier, a scientific-historical consultant, and Alessia Biasiolo, who manages the press office of the Desenzano exhibition. 240 works are displayed in Desenzano, part of this traveling exhibition across various European towns, mainly belonging to the vast and unique global archive holding over 3,500,000 photographs collected and taken worldwide over the years.
The works exhibited in Desenzano have been carefully selected to represent the various phases that have characterized Italian life over a century, organized into 22 thematic sectors. Not coincidentally, the curator stated that the exhibition offers “a visual coverage of a century of Italian events that Alinari now wishes to showcase to the public, with the presumption of trying, for a moment, to stop the visitor in front of the image to gain awareness of what has happened over these hundred years.”
Thus, the timeline begins at the start of the century, proceeding through the 1920s, then to World War II, the 1960s, and finally to the contemporary decades.
This is a well-distributed exhibition that warrants careful viewing and, above all, an analysis of the images, all rigorously printed with traditional, sometimes antique, photographic techniques—such as contact printing presses, using negatives and especially real glass plates (over 100,000 of which are carefully preserved in the archives), representing the heritage of the entire Alinari Museum collection.
Of course, the photographic works on display were not all taken by the Alinari brothers; many are by other eminent photographers, approximately 140 in total, who have marked the history of world photography, such as Cartier, Bresson, Capa, Basilico, Wulz, Michetti, De Biasi, Basilico, and others.
Organizational details and patronage
This exhibition, which will move to Athens after its closing on September 23rd, is under the High Patronage of the President of the Italian Republic and is sponsored by the Presidency of the Council of Ministers, the Ministry of Foreign Affairs, the Ministry of Cultural Heritage and Activities, and the Ministry of Public Education.
The exhibition’s catalog volume, published in English, German, and French, is particularly noteworthy. It includes images of all the works on display, accompanied by detailed annotations.
The opening hours are as follows: Tuesday to Friday from 10:00 to 12:00 and 17:00 to 20:00; Saturday and Sunday from 10:00 to 12:00 and 17:00 to 22:00. Admission is free.
