Audience never so numerous and very good results in terms of sales: the fifth edition of MIA Fair, the photography fair conceived and directed by Fabio Castelli, is archived with a more than convincing balance. From the invitation-only preview on Friday 22.000 to Monday 10 April, around 13 people crossed the threshold of The Mall, the multipurpose center in the futuristic Porta Nuova Varesine district chosen this year as the location.
A good 7.000 people only on the invitation-only preview and inauguration day on 10 April; about 6.000 on Saturday 11 and the same number on Sunday 12; 3.000 on the final day of Monday 13. With numbers close to 22.000 MIA Fair exceeds its public record by 10%, recorded in the 2014 edition, confirming a clearly growing trend. “We are not only proud of the number of people who came to MIA Fair” explains Fabio Castelli, “but above all the interest, maturity, attention, curiosity of an audience that has the best relationship with artists and gallery owners”. There are several choices which, Castelli continues, have proved to be successful: “among many that of such a fascinating new headquarters, which has created a lot of curiosity. This is demonstrated by the great attention that the trade press has given to the event, together with the response from the public”.
The positive climate that developed within MIA Fair was reflected in sales, with most of the 145 exhibitors expressing great satisfaction. Excellent performance for Officine dell'Immagine, with four works by Shadi Ghadirian (next protagonist at the Iran Pavilion at the Venice Biennale), two by Gohar Dashti and one by the Chinese Xing Danwen reaching a total of 50 thousand euros; mc2 gallery also did well, with five photographs by Nicolas Feldmeyer sold for 2.500 euros each. Admira works on several authors, gathering a marked interest in the images of Charlotte Perriand (ten pieces sold, with figures ranging from 1.500 to 4.900 euros); satisfaction for Spazio Nuovo with the sale of six large format works by Camilla Borghese and four in a new format from the new series by Olivier Roller; for Contrasto Galleria, with Irene Kung and Sebastiaõ Salgado, RBcontemporary with Massimiliano Gatti; for the Antonia Jannone gallery with both authors presented, Marco
Palmieri and Drik Dickinson; for Costantini Art Gallery with Nicolò Quirico, the Giacomelli Archive and 29 Arts in progress with Gianpaolo Barbieri. Among the foreign galleries excellent results for the Dutch galleries The Public House of Art with the author Eric Guo and Suite 59; for the French Cecile Gallet, with a monographic stand by Caroline Gavazzi and for the Japanese Systema Gallery with Katsu Ishida. Positive data also comes from the section MIA proposal: Massimo Sestini, former winner of the World Press Photo, sells four large format photographs for prices ranging between 3.000 and 4.000 euros; Valentina Picozzi instead sells twelve works.
MIA Fair closes with the assignment of the fourth edition of BNL BNP Paribas Group Award (it is the first time this has happened in the history of MIA Fair) ex aequo. The works win the purchase prize made available by the credit institution, entering by right the rich collection from Memoirs di Bruno Cattani (Reggio Emilia, 1964) e On the surface di Massimiliano Gatti (Voghera, 1981).
The newborn prize was also assigned on the final day of the fair MyLifestyle, new real estate brand that changes the way of conceiving living and which has chosen MIA Fair to present itself in preview. An award with a "social" nature, with three works selected and exhibited on the stand MyLifestyle for the entire duration of the fair, proposals to be voted by the public, which determined which one deserved to be purchased by the brand: success went to Edward Miola (Genoa. 1954) with the work Namibia #3.
It's the photographer Mauro Fiorese (Verona, 1970) to win with his series Treasure Rooms, a survey through images that reveals the secrets of the vaults of the great museum collections, the third edition of the award MY CODE, awarded by MIA Fair. The artist thus obtained the invitation to exhibit for free, with a monographic stand, during the Milanese edition of MIA Fair 2016.
The MIA Fair cultural program was a success, strengthened compared to past editions and enhanced by the participation of major international guests. A large audience took part in the conversations that Gianluigi Recovered, cross disciplinary curator for MIA Fair 2015, dedicated to the hundredth anniversary of the birth of Roland Barthes, involving among others Hans Ulrich Obrist ed Alice Rawsthorn; strong interest aroused the meeting with Olive Maria Rubio, artistic director of PhotoEspaña Madrid and the comparison between Christine Manasse e Joe Baio, both lawyers, who discussed the issue of image copyright in the various legal systems (Italian and American), with particular reference to the world of the web.
The special edition of the Archives Award "Regained time - photographs not to be missed" supported by Eberhard & Co. and Io Donna, who brought the exhibition to MIA Fair "The Quarto Stato and the territory of Volpedo in the photographs of the Giuseppe Pellizza collection”, curated by Daniela Giordi with works from the Pellizza da Volpedo Archive; and , the performance Economic Body, a synthesis between a theoretical study, a choreographic experiment and a dance show created by Anna-Mi Fredriksson.
