Thursday, May 1, 2008 at Accursio Gallery, in the heart of Bologna, opens “Proud Bologna, 1978-2008”, the exhibition of photographic documents from the archive of the Arcigay Documentation Center "Il Cassero"“.
The photographic exhibition, which will be open to the public until Sunday, May 11th, celebrates thirty years of gay pride “Bolognese style”.
A journey that began in the first city and national demonstration in 1978 – when the militants from Bologna were those of the '‘Gay circle’'- and it goes through the 1980s with its cheerful and creative Pride celebrations in Piazza Maggiore. A special highlight, of course, are the shots of the festive procession that in 1982 he inaugurated the Cassero di Porta Saragozza, the first location assigned in Italy by a Municipal Administration to a homosexual club. And again: images that from 1995, the year of the first national gay pride parade in the city, they bring us to today to welcome the Bologna Pride 2008.
To reconstruct the political and social climate that surrounded Bologna's Pride demonstrations and parades, the exhibition is complemented by a review of local and national press coverage from the 1960s to the present and a multimedia installation featuring previously unseen video documents and footage from the period. The exhibition offers an opportunity to showcase the heritage preserved by the Documentation Center and also serves as an invitation to enrich this priceless collection with further contributions.
During the opening, the catalog edited by Sara De Giovanni, director of the Documentation Center, will be presented; it features a preface by journalist Vincenzo Branà.
The 32-page volume contains color and black-and-white photographs selected from the 121 photographs on display. The artwork is by Serena Sacchetti. The catalog will be available throughout the exhibition.
The main core is represented by the black and white shots taken by the photographer from Bologna Sergio Perini during the first national demonstration in Bologna in 1995. A special section features images by Enrico Scuro, a Bolognese photographer known for documenting the most heated moments of 1977. "Bologna Proud" thus becomes an opportunity for collaboration between the Documentation Center and the photographer's private archive, recently put online and available for consultation at www.fotoenricoscuro.it. The other images on display were collected by the Center over the course of its twenty-year history through private donations, with the aim of preserving and documenting the memory of the LGBT movement. Among the most significant contributions is the Stefano Casagrande Photographic Fund, a prominent figure at Cassero and the creator of Miss Alternative, the major benefit event for HIV research.
Since 1983, the Arcigay Documentation Centre “Il Cassero” has been the largest national LGBT archive and one of the largest in Europe. It was established as an expression of research, conservation, protection, and analysis of the cultural heritage of the Italian gay movement and is intended as a service and bibliographic reference center for students, readers, teachers, and researchers. The Center provides the full range of services supported by SBN, including document delivery and interlibrary loan. A reference and consulting service is available upon request for students and researchers. Space-wise, it includes a reading room and equipment for viewing audiovisual materials. It is equipped with computer stations for accessing online catalogs and provides access to services for people with disabilities. Since 1987, the archive has been affiliated with IBACN, the Institute of Artistic and Natural Heritage of the Emilia-Romagna Region, which recognizes its regional, national, and international importance.
Vernissage: Thursday, May 1st, from 6:30 PM
Duration: May 1-11, 2008
Location: Galleria Accursio, Via Rizzoli – Bologna
Hours: 3:00 PM to 8:00 PM Monday through Friday; 10:00 AM to 1:00 PM and 3:00 PM to 8:00 PM on Saturdays and Sundays. Access for the disabled is provided through the Urban Center entrance.
Info: 051.557954
www.cassero.it/doc
[email protected]
