Massimo Ricciardo. Encounters in an Archive. Objects of Migration / Photo-Objects of Art History.

Global migration is one of the most pressing matters facing contemporaneity, but also a leitmotif in the work of Massimo Ricciardo. In his most recent project, the artist creates a dialogue between photographic objects from the Photothek of the Kunsthistorisches Institut in Florenz and objects of migration: things that are functional to the journey, such as passports and nautical charts, but also to identity and memory, such as family photographs, diaries, a sample of earth from the homeland. The installation generated compelling questions about these ‘talking’ objects: who do they belong to? Are they part of our cultural heritage? What are the appropriate artistic and curatorial practices if one decides to collect, archive, exhibit, transform them? The dialogues prompted by Ricciardo's installation continue in this book and involve a polyphony of voices.

A series of events will accompany the publication of the book:

• Palermo, Goethe-Institut, 24 March 2023
• Florence, Villa Romana, 14 April 2023 
• Düsseldorf, Heinrich-Heine-Universität, Kunsthistorisches Institut, 25 April 2023
• Köln, Rheinisches Bildarchiv, 20 May 2023
• Antwerp, Red Star Line Museum, 25 May 2023

The project is supported by the Ministero della Cultura within the framework of the Italian Council X – 2021 programme.

The book is accompanied by a web sound project curated by Massimo Ricciardo together with sound designer Luca Morino, Sound Objects of Migrations: https://soundobjectsofmigrations.it.

Further information on the project Objects of Migration, Photo-Objects of Art History. Encounters in Archives.