Francesco Zanot for Foto/Industria 2019, Bologna
Fantom’s associate Francesco Zanot has been appointed as artistic director of Foto/Industria, the Biennial of Photography on Industry and Work organized by the MAST Foundation in Bologna. The fourth edition, entitled Technosphere: Humankind and the Built Environment, took place from 24 October to 24 November 2019.
Foto/Industria was established in 2013 by the MAST Foundation in Bologna, whose research and exhibition programme, curated by Urs Stahel, is dedicated entirely to ‘work photography’, and to the relationship between art, experimentation and technology. With a turnout of over 173 thousand visitors, the 4th edition developed around the notion of ‘built environment’. Encompassing cities and industries, energy and infrastructure networks, communication and digital networks, it set out to investigate the complex dynamic construction systems that distinguish the presence of humans on the planet. That is to say, the activities which gave rise to the technosphere, as defined in 2013 by Peter Happ, professor of geology and civil engineering at Duke University: the whole set of structures that humans have built to ensure their survival on the planet.
Over 450 works of both historical and contemporary international artists were featured in the 10 exhibitions curated by Francesco Zanot, installed in historical palaces, museums and exhibition venues around the city centre of Bologna. The artists exhibited were Yosuke Bandai, Lisetta Carmi, David Claerbout, Matthieu Gafsou, Luigi Ghirri, Delio Jasse, André Kertész, Armin Linke, Albert Renger-Patzsch, Stephanie Syjuco.
Contextually to Foto/industria, the MAST hosted the major exhibition Anthropocene, curated by Urs Stahel and featuring works by Edward Burtynsky, Jennifer Baichwal and Nicholas De Pencier.
Foto/Industria 2019 Technosphere: Humankind and the Built Environment Curated by Francesco Zanot 24 October – 24 November 2019 A project by MAST Foundation www.fotoindustria.it
