►The PROJECT

In August 1973 on behalf of municipal administration, Paolo Monti, one of the most importantti photographers Italians of the twentieth century, creates a photographic campaign on the historic center of Modena. The result is a collection of over 2000 images, including black and white prints and color slides. This extraordinary visual heritage offers a profound understanding of the city’s transformations over time and is today kept in the Luigi Poletti civic library of art and architecture.

►THE EXHIBITION

Palazzo Santa Margherita from 1 December 2023 to 1 April 2024

To learn about the project, from Friday 1 December 2023, you can visit the exhibition set up in the Cloister of Palazzo Santa Margherita (Corso Canalgrande 103).

The inauguration is scheduled for 6pm, free entry.

►THE DIGITAL PLATFORM
https://monti.comune.modena.it

An online digital map, consultable and interactive, compares Paolo Monti’s photos and the urban landscape of the present.

The platform allows you to navigate between the 1692 black and white photographs (blue pointer) and the 504 slides colors (green pointer).

The images can be consulted and selected in multiple ways, by street name for example , with the possibility of building thematic itineraries or verifying the transformations of the city.

For 120 selected shots, the digital platform gives the opportunity to see, side by side, photographs from 1973 and contemporary images ( red pointer), the result of the recent updating campaign conducted by the Modenese artist and photographer Francesco Fantoni.

Furthermore, it is possible to access much other information: discover the figure of Paolo Monti and his work in Emilia-Romagna, explore the potential of public photography as a means of documenting evolution of the territory. A dedicated section, enriched by historical photographs from the Botti Pincelli fund, delves into the demographic, economic and social transformations that have characterized the historic center in the recent fifty years.

PAOLO MONTI E MODENA / 1973-2023 is a project of the Municipality of Modena – Department of Culture within Modena Unesco Creative City for Media Arts, crafted in collaboration with the BEIC Foundation – Paolo Monti Fund and with the patronage of the Emilia-Romagna Region. The Poletti library, Delfini library and Fondazione Modena Arti Visive collaborated on the project.