MIA PHOTO FAIR. The 6th edition of the art photo fair in Milan

MIA PHOTO #fair. The art photo #fair directed by Fabio Castelli and Lorenza Castelli returns for its sixth edition 

Press preview on Thursday April 28th at 11.30

80 galleries from 12 different countries worldwide, with 230 artists, 15 specialized publishers and 20 independent artists: these are the figures of the sixth edition of MIA Photo #fair, the #fair dedicated to art photography, conceived and directed by Fabio Castelli and due to be held at The Mall, at the new business district of Porta Nuova, Milan, from Thursday April 28th, inauguration day by invitation only, to Monday, May 2nd, 2016.

Under the patronage of Regione Lombardia, the Metropolitan City of Milan and Comune di #milano, MIA Photo #fair is supported by its main sponsors BNL BNP Paribas Group and Lavazza and by the sponsor Eberhard & Co.

After the success of the 2015 edition (with over 22,000 visitors), MIA Photo #fair has decided to extend the period of the #fair, which now welcomes visitors from Thursday until Monday. In addition to its established arrangement, characterised by the participation of galleries with their collective exhibitions and monographic projects, the #fair also features Proposta MIA, in which a selection of photographers present their work individually.

AWARDS 

BNL BNP Paribas Group Award – For the fifth year running, MIA Photo #fair renews its collaboration with BNL BNP Paribas Group, the main sponsor of the #event. Again in 2016, therefore, a qualified jury will be assigning the BNL BNP Paribas Group Award to photographers exhibiting in the #fair with their own galleries. The finalist works will be published on bnl_cultura, BNL’s Instagram account dedicated to art and photography, while the winning work will be included in the artistic heritage of the Bank, which today owns over 5,000 works.

ARCHIVES AWARD ‘Tempo ritrovato – fotografie da non perdere’, sponsored by Eberhard & Co. – After last year’s special edition which, focussing on the experience of Giuseppe Pellizza da Volpedo, interrupted the chronological series that began first with an exploration of the Fifties and then of the Sixties, the #fair resumes its natural course with the Archives Award ‘Tempo ritrovato – fotografie da non perdere’, conceived in collaboration with the magazine Io Donna and sponsored by the Swiss luxury watch company Eberhard & Co. which has supported the project for four years. The initiative, a true unicum on the Italian scene, promotes the revival and safeguarding of archives that document the tradition and the social life of Italy, helping to preserve and disseminate their memory also for future generations. The 2016 edition is dedicated to the Seventies, a significant period, characterized by important social and cultural changes.


MASSIMO GATTI AWARD - Together with the Glauco Cavaciuti Art Gallery of Milan, MIA Photo #fair introduces the first edition of an award named in memory of photographer Massimo Gatti, who died last November. The artist considered to be the most outstanding among those participating in the section Proposta MIA will be awarded a cash prize and the organization of a solo exhibition in the Cavaciuti Gallery.


CULTURAL PROGRAMME 
MIA Photo #fair is enriched with a full programme of talks and debates on the most topical of the many subjects involving the world of photography. These include a meeting, held in collaboration with the Community of Sant'Egidio, on the theme of the power of the image as a language for describing the phenomenon of the migration process that is changing Europe. This process is interpreted through the work of such artists and reporters as Liu Bolin, Massimo Sestini, Fabio Bucciarelli and Corrado Levi.

The sixth edition of MIA Photo #fair, with its customary focus on collecting, presents three special events moderated by Sabrina Donadel who during the weekend of the #fair will meet with three collector couples who share a passion for photography: Pier Luigi and Natalina Remotti, Giovanni and Anna Rosa Cotroneo and Annamaria and Antonio Maccaferri.
The talks area, where the cultural programme takes place, has been specially designed and arranged by a group of young creative talents coordinated by the Institute for Production of Wonder together with Cassina, under the guidance of creative director Patricia Urquiola.

SPECIAL PROJECTS 

LAVAZZA will be dedicating its Artistic Coffee Bar to an exhibition of valuable photographic works from the Mario De Biasi Archive, as a tribute to one of the greatest interpreters of photojournalism in the world. The selection of images, curated by Enrica Viganò, a member of the MIA Photo #fair Scientific Committee, and Silvia De Biasi, curator of the Mario De Biasi Archive, features shots illustrating a wide variety of situations in which the coffee ritual always plays the lead role.
The 36 photos portray prominent figures, celebrities, writers, musicians, actors and ordinary people in different places, from the trendy haunts of New York to Australia, from Milan to Iran.
A tribute to the energy that this drink instils at all latitudes.

MIA Photo #fair hosts the exhibition project by Luca Gilli, winner of the BNL BNP Paribas Group Award in 2014, for Ice Yachts, a leading shipyard specialising in sailboats, which develops special programs relating to the use of new technologies. Through his lens, Gilli illustrates the various stages in the creation of a state-of-the-art boat, identifying the point of contact between the skills of ancient craftsmanship and the most innovative solutions available today.

CODICE MIA

MIA Photo #fair confirms its future-oriented vision by continuing the experience of CODICE MIA, conceived by Enrica Viganò as an original form of portfolio reviews. A selection of artists chosen by the #fair itself will have the opportunity to discuss their work with a panel of Italian and foreign collectors, curators and art advisors:

Pedro Barbosa, collector – Saõ Paulo, Brazil
Peter Coeln, collector – Vienna, Austria
Elaine Goldman, collector – New York, USA
Jim Grover, collector – London, UK
Charles Jing, collector – Atlanta, USA
Annamaria and Antonio Maccaferri, collectors – Bologna, Italy
Massimo Perazzo, collector – Milan, Italy
Nissan Perez, art advisor and curator – Tel Aviv, Israel
Beth Saunders, Curatorial Assistant in the Department of Photographs at the Metropolitan Museum of Art, New York, USA
Maria Sukkar, collector – London, UK

Out of all the artists participating in the debate and discussion sessions, one artist will be selected and awarded the possibility of exhibiting his/her work in the section Proposta MIA of the 2017 edition.

MIA Photo #fair 2016
The Mall - Porta Nuova,
Piazza Lina Bo Bardi,
Milan
April 29 – May 2

Information
MIA Photo #fair Organisation office
Via San Vincenzo 22, 20123 Milan
Tel. / Fax +39.0283241412 info@miafair.it - www.miafair.it