Mostra / Luigi Ghirri. A series of dreams

Luigi Ghirri (Scandiano, 1943 – Reggio Emilia, 1992) è considerato uno dei più importanti fotografi europei del XX secolo. Il suo lavoro affronta i codici della fotografia: le sue immagini non sono atti di mimesi o semplici riproduzioni, ma modi di esplorare la realtà, sottolineando il carattere fittizio della visione e della rappresentazione. La sua cultura figurativa ha radici nelle poetiche del Novecento, dall’objet trouvé dadaista all’arte concettuale, fino alla pop art americana, mentre in campo fotografico i suoi punti di riferimento sono i fotografi della scuola americana e francese. All’intensa attività espositiva, Ghirri affianca l’idea di un importante lavoro di promozione culturale con la messa a punto di progetti editoriali sviluppati all’interno della casa editrice “Punto e Virgola” e con l’organizzazione di mostre come “Iconicittà” (1980), “Viaggio in Italia” (1984) e “Esplorazioni sulla via Emilia” (1986), pietre miliari nella storia della fotografia contemporanea italiana che lo vedranno al centro di un animato dibattito.
Iosonouncane (Jacopo Incani, 1983) è un musicista sardo che vive a Bologna. Dopo l’esperienza con gli Adharma, avvia un progetto solista pubblicando su MySpace brani composti con loop e campionatori. Nel 2015 esce “DIE”, disco che lo consacra tra i nomi di riferimento della musica italiana, seguito da tour anche internazionali. Collabora con artisti come Edoardo Tresoldi e Paolo Angeli, firma colonne sonore e lavora come produttore. Nel 2020 pubblica il vinile “Novembre / Vedrai Vedrai” e ottiene il Disco d’Oro FIMI con “Stormi”. Tra il 2023 e il 2024 pubblica nuovi live, produce “SPIRA” di Daniela Pes e compone colonne sonore, ottenendo una candidatura ai David di Donatello per il film “Berlinguer. La Grande Ambizione”. Nel 2025 debutta in duo con Daniela Pes e riceve il Premio Ciampi.
Mostra promossa da Comune di Reggio Emilia (Musei Civici, Biblioteca Panizzi). In collaborazione con Fondazione I Teatri, Fondazione Luigi Ghirri e ISIA U. Con il contributo Art Bonus di IREN e di BDC – Bonanni Del Rio Catalog. Sponsorizzazione tecnica RCF.

Luigi Ghirri. A series of dreams
Paesaggi visivi e paesaggi sonori
Oltre quei monti il mare – Iosonouncane

30 April 2026 – 28 February 2027
Curated by Ilaria Campioli and Andrea Tinterri
Music curation by Giulia Cavaliere
The reinstallation of the photography section at Palazzo dei Musei in Reggio Emilia for 2026–2027 explores what Luigi Ghirri called the “strange and mysterious kinship between sound and image,” a relationship that had always fascinated him. A passionate music lover, Ghirri assigned music a central role in his life and work: this is evident in his devotion to Bob Dylan, his deep friendship with Lucio Dalla, and his significant record collection. It also emerges in his writings, which are threaded with references to the influence of music on the way he looked and on the way he constructed images. Like painting, philosophy, literature, photography, and cinema, music contributed to shaping that “image of the outside” on which Ghirri constantly reflected, recognizing in it—much like in photography—a narrative power capable of opening up true “visionary ruptures.”
The exhibition addresses these different levels of contact between photography and music through a three-part itinerary that alternates places, encounters, and reflections on listening and looking. It presents a wide range of materials, including previously unseen items, that trace Ghirri’s relationships with many musicians, among them Lucio Dalla, Gianni Morandi, Ron, Luca Carboni, CCCP, and many others. This section also provides an opportunity to highlight the still under-told contribution of Paola Borgonzoni, a designer and a crucial figure alongside Ghirri (his partner in life and work), both in editorial projects and in the conception of record covers.
An entire nucleus is conceived as a space for experimentation and reflection around the theme of the soundscape, thanks to the participation of musician Iosonouncane. Bringing into dialogue Ghirri’s “ecology of vision” and R. Murray Schafer’s “acoustic ecology,” the intervention seeks to convey the depth of a line of thought which—though developed in different contexts, yet in the same years—points to an increasing difficulty in seeing and in hearing: a saturation that affects the environment, the outside world, and our relationship with nature. From this perspective, the sonic landscape and the visual landscape correspond as two modes of orientation, two forms of relationship with the environment and with what surrounds us.
A focus devoted to images created for RCA classical music covers is installed in the octagonal hall of Teatro Valli. This choice recalls a place that was central to Luigi Ghirri’s experience: he collaborated for many years with I Teatri di Reggio Emilia, photographing performances and spaces. Alongside the covers, the exhibition will present precious images held in the Teatro Municipale Historical Archive—photographs of productions from those years that return Ghirri’s gaze onto the stage and onto theatrical time. The presence of these works underscores the value of the archive as a living place of preservation and care, capable of safeguarding memory and beauty over time and of making them accessible and shared once again.
The exhibition is accompanied by a series of original textual and audio contents curated by Giulia Cavaliere: insights, dialogues, and interviews that weave through the itinerary and invite a mode of engagement “in listening.” The voices of artists and musicians—some of whom collaborated with Ghirri or shared part of their journey—offer, in direct form, the dialogue between sound and image that runs through the entire project.
Promoted by the Municipality of Reggio Emilia (Musei Civici, Biblioteca Panizzi) in collaboration with Fondazione I Teatri, Fondazione Luigi Ghirri,  ISIA U. With the “Art Bonus” contribution of IREN and BDC – Bonanni Del Rio Catalog. Technical sponsor RCF.
Biography
Luigi Ghirri (Scandiano, 1943 – Reggio Emilia, 1992) is considered one of the most important European photographers of the twentieth century. His work deals with the rules of photography: his images are not acts of mimesis or mere reproductions, but ways of exploring reality, emphasising the fictitious nature of vision and representation. The roots of his figurative art lie in twentieth-century poetry, from Dadaist objet trouvé to conceptual art, right up to American Pop Art, while in the field of photography, his reference points are photographers from the American and French school. Alongside his busy exhibition work, Ghirri added the idea of major cultural promotion, setting up editorial projects developed at the publishing house, Punto e Virgola, and organising exhibitions such as Iconicittà (1980), Viaggio in Italia (1984) and Esplorazioni sulla via Emilia (1986), milestones in the history of contemporary Italian photography that would see it at the centre of an animated debate.