PhMuseum Days 2026

Archipelago is an invitation to imagine the world as a relational network of islands – a space where differences do not erase one another but rather find meaning through dialogue.

Overview

Freely inspired by Massimo Cacciari's reflections on the topology of the continent and wandering through the crisis of modernity, the fifth edition of PhMuseum Days – the international photography festival curated and organized by PhMuseum under the artistic direction of Giuseppe Oliverio – returns to Bologna from October 1 to 4 with a program of exhibitions, talks, workshops, and book presentations.

In an era marked by conflict, migration, environmental crises, and profound social transformations, archipelagic thinking seeks to propose an alternative perspective to unitarian narratives. Each island retains its own identity, yet finds meaning in its relationship with the others. The projects presented at PhMuseum Days 2026 explore these very connections, bringing memory and the present, the individual and the collective, language and politics, nature and technology into dialogue. Through diverse approaches and visual languages, the artists construct a constellation of autonomous stories that, when placed side by side, reflect the complexity of our time.

The concept of Archipelago is expressed not only in the curatorial program but also in the very geography of the festival. The heart of the event will be the new space Bastardini, from which the path will branch out toward the Cortile dell'Archiginnasio, the PhMuseum Lab, and the CHEAP public billboards on via dell'Abbadia. Joining these venues this year are two major new additions: the OFF circuit, which brings together two other cultural institutions in Bologna – Fondazione Home Movies and Spazio Labo’– in a parallel program of exhibitions, and the second edition of Photobook Mania, the event dedicated to independent photography publishing. The festival thus broadens its scope and strengthens its dialogue with the city’s cultural fabric, transforming Bologna into an archipelago of venues, practices, and communities connected to photography.

The exhibition itinerary begins at the Bastardini, which hosts seven solo exhibitions spanning different themes and geographies.

Max Pinckers challenges the idea of a single viewpoint with 2020-MMXX, a reflection on suspended time and perception that portrays moments of boredom, introspection, and delicate human interactions from multiple angles; Jonah Samson constructs an open narrative composed of over one hundred archival photographs with Every Exit Is An Entrance Somewhere Else, questioning the relationship between chance and destiny; Daniel Martínez, with (H), explores the paradox of hydrogen – an element at the very origin of life and, at the same time, a symbol of its destructive potential.

The relationships between language, memory, and identity instead run through the work of Allegra Baggio Corradi, who in Homographs. A Pictionary reflects on the limits of the word and the power of images as tools for learning and communication. Federico Clavarino, with Italia o Italia, offers a meditation on the Italian landscape and the weight that history continues to exert on the present, while Robin Alysha Clemens chronicles in How To Carry A Home the reconstruction of the idea of home through the archives and memory of a displaced Ukrainian community. Lastly, with Axolotl, Francisco Cantón invites the viewer to linger in a space where nothing is ever truly complete – a state of suspension in which the fear of change becomes profoundly human.

At the former municipal billboards of CHEAP on via dell'Abbadia, the festival will present Absolute: Tehran Cats by Caro Mirzoyan – a project born in contemporary Tehran where photographing cats becomes both a survival strategy and a reflection on the restrictions imposed on image production in contexts of control and surveillance.

The program is further enriched on October 2, 2026, from 2 pm to 6 pm, with The Man of Family, a free workshop led by Adam Broomberg and organized by PhMuseum in collaboration with Fondazione MAST and the Academy of Fine Arts of Bologna. Taking the historic exhibition The Family of Man – curated by Edward Steichen at MoMA in 1955 – as a starting point, the workshop invites participants to deconstruct its narrative through collage, cut-ups, and physical interventions on the original catalog, and then re-examine its meaning using artificial intelligence tools. It offers a unique opportunity to reflect on the role of images in shaping worldviews, spanning memory, ideology, and contemporary practices.

The festival’s journey is preceded by the opening of the exhibition Screenshots From A Series Of Videos About A Rice Field And Its Surroundings by Cintia Tortosa Santisteban, on view at PhMuseum Lab. This collection of images, gathered during a stay in Japan, sensitively observes the flow of time and the transformation of the ordinary landscape, engaging in a dialogue with core concepts of Japanese culture.

As in previous editions, the festival will also reach the Cortile dell'Archiginnasio, where the collective exhibition Archipelago will feature forty international artists selected through the PhMuseum open call. Printed on large, semi-transparent nautical fabric banners and installed on freestanding structures that interact with one another, the works will offer a collective interpretation of this fifth edition's theme, transforming one of the city’s symbolic landmarks into a meeting place for different practices, geographies, and visions.

Back at Bastardini, a screening will showcase twenty projects selected through the open call, further expanding the panorama of international contemporary photography and offering a glimpse into emerging research.

Among the new highlights for 2026, Photobook Mania officially joins the PhMuseum Days program for the first time. Hosted on October 3 and 4 in the spaces of Serra Madre at Giardini Margherita, the second edition of this event dedicated to photographic publishing will bring together independent publishers, artists, schools, and international booksellers. Through workshops and panel discussions, it establishes itself as a hub for dialogue on photobook practices and contemporary publishing culture. The Photobook Mania program will be rounded out by two exhibitions dedicated to the material and design aspects of the photobook.

Finally, the festival will be further expanded by the new OFF circuit, which will involve Fondazione Home Movies and Spazio Labo’ with two additional exhibitions. This is a natural extension of the Archipelago theme, making the city an integral part of the curatorial project and confirming PhMuseum Days’ commitment to building an ever-wider network of collaborations among institutions, independent organizations, and artistic communities.

From October 2 to 4, Fondazione Home Movies will host Benedetta Fioravanti’s Us Above The Brutes in the Sala Berti - Refettorio delle Monache dell'ex Convento di San Mattia. This short film interweaves found footage, home movies, and images collected online with research conducted at the former juvenile reformatory in Bosco Marengo.

Finally, during the festival and through December 18, visitors can see Tra noi by Roman Manfredi at Spazio Labo’, the artist’s first solo exhibition in Italy, curated by Laura De Marco. The project explores the meaning of identity and belonging through photography, oral history, archival materials, and Super 8. Manfredi creates a dialogue between the United Kingdom and Naples, focusing on experiences that have often remained on the margins of representation and on the construction of identity as a relational process.

Once again this year, PhMuseum Days is offering a series of discounts made possible by several valued partners. Starting with Banca di Bologna, whose members can attend the festival at the discounted price of 8 euros instead of 10. Thanks to our partnership with Card Cultura, this benefit also applies to holders of an annual Card Cultura subscription, in addition to an extra 10% discount on the catalog and merchandise.