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memorabilia2024
series of 27 photographs
inkjet prints, color
variable dimensions“As part of the celebration of the 50th anniversary of the founding of the Centro Studi del Teatro Stabile di Torino, Riccardo Banfi was invited to engage with a unique collection, divided between a core of documents and materials housed in the Turin archive, and the storage rooms that preserve and maintain the stage sets and props from recent theatrical productions. Starting from his encounter with the storages of the Teatro Stabile di Torino, the photographer focused on a repertoire of memorabilia, creating a photographic series divided into three sections. Shots of documents collecting the theatrical experiences from the second half of the 20th century interact with close-up photographs of preparatory models for stage sets, made of wood and paper. These alternate with images of evocative props, including costumes, masks, and everyday tools, all stored in the theater’s warehouses.
The exhibition’s walls, which are a vital part of the artwork, draw visitors into temporary imagined worlds, blurring the lines between reality and fiction. The photographs create a rich tapestry of meanings, showcasing objects, documents, and fragments of stage settings —remnants of the staging process — that interact in a meaningful dialogue with the surrounding space. The entire photographic work, on the one hand, makes visible the traces of past narratives, focusing on the conservative layering of documents, objects, and models. On the other hand, it engages with the inexhaustible human need to represent reality through devices of fiction, aiming to uncover the deeper meanings of existence. This creates a play of reflections where the subject and its apparent image increasingly blur together”.memorabilia, curated by Arteco (Alessandra Messali and Beatrice Zanelli), Fonderie Limone, Moncalieri (19.10.24-04.06.25), part of Corpus Fare Memoria, a project to celebrate the 50th anniversary of the Centro Studi del Teatro Stabile di Torino.
