Press Release first edition 2007/08

GD4PhotoArt – Photography meets Industry

Photography meets Industry, an exhibition dedicated to industrial photography. A meandering exploration of industrial landscapes and revisitations of materiality and space, through the photography of Dita Pepe, Léa Crespi and Rob Hornstra, winners of the inaugural edition of the GD4PhotoArt photographic competition. The selection of works by young European artists represents the first in a series of cultural initiatives to take place in the exhibition space which is currently under construction.

GD4PhotoArt: competition, protagonists and exhibition

A meeting between photography and industry: this is the inspiration behind the challenge issued by G.D to the world of photography. This historic company founded in Bologna in 1923, a worldwide leader in the packaging machinery sector, recently announced a Europe-wide, invitation-only competition of industrial photography entitled GD4PhotoArt. Twelve internationally renowned experts drew up a shortlist of around thirty young photographers from across Europe, with an equal opportunity of selection for Italians and non-Italians.
The three winning artists were chosen by a seven-member jury chaired by Isabella Seràgnoli, President of G.D, and comprising Gabriele Basilico, photographer, Giovanna Calvenzi, journalist, Gruppo Rizzoli Corriere della Sera, Pippo Ciorra, university professor, Daniela Facchinato, gallery owner, Laura Gasparini, Curator of the Reggio Emilia Municipal Photographic Library, Piero Orlandi, Director of the Emilia Romagna Region’s Architectural Heritage Department, Roberta Valtorta, Director of the Contemporary Photography Museum, Cinisello Balsamo (Milan). The three winners were Dita Pepe (Czech Republic), Léa Crespi (France) and Rob Hornstra (Netherlands). Each artist was awarded a scholarship which enabled them to complete a photographic project on the theme “Society, Industry and Territory”.

The exhibition

The winners’ photos are included in an exhibition entitled Photography meets Industry, to be held from 7 to 23 November at Palazzo Pepoli Campogrande, via Castiglione 7, Bologna (open every day from 10:00 to 19:00).
Exhibited alongside the photographs of Dita Pepe, Léa Crespi and Rob Hornstra, will be one work by each of the 26 candidates who participated in the competition. Photography meets Industry, promoted by G.D in association with the Isabella Seràgnoli Foundation, will be accompanied by a catalogue, curated by Giovanna Calvenzi and published by Damiani, which collects the images taken in the year following the award of the scholarship by the three winners of the inaugural 2007/08 competition.
GD4PhotoArt is a biennial competition and an initiative which, according to the competition brief, “aims to document and support photographic activity related to industry, its impact on society and on the environment, and the role of human labour in economic and productive development”. The competition also marks the beginning of an ongoing systematic project on photography and industry, the purpose of which is to create a permanent collection inside the exhibition space. The new facility will begin construction in 2009 and will host a section dedicated to industrial photography.

The exhibition space

The project is the brainchild of G.D President Isabella Seràgnoli who, by means of an invitation-only architectural competition targeted at a select group of young professionals, spearheaded the creation of a multifunctional centre next to the company’s historic premises in via Battindarno, Bologna. The versatile new complex was designed by Rome based architectural studio Labics, which was named competition winner by the jury chaired by Francesco Dal Co. Once completed, the centre will house a 400-seat auditorium, training centre, nursery, gym and company canteen, in addition to a spacious exhibition space. This latter facility will not only showcase the company’s history and business model, but will also host future cultural initiatives promoted by G.D in association with the Isabella Seràgnoli Foundation. The exhibition space will be open to the public and will have a multimedia structure with interactive facilities. In this way it will become a means of diffusing the company culture and, more generally, a tool for establishing dialogue as well as a communal space shared with the entire city of Bologna.

The project founders

The competition GD4PhotoArt and the exhibition Photography meets Industry are promoted and organised by G.D. in conjunction with the Isabella Seràgnoli Foundation and with sponsorship from the City of Bologna.