PhMuseum Days And Photobook Mania 2026 Round-Up: An Archipelago Of Connections
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Published15 Oct 2026
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As we look back on the emotions of the 5th edition of our International Photo Festival in Bologna and the 2nd edition of Photobook Mania, our thanks go to all the artists, partners and visitors who made our platform’s annual in-person gathering possible.
Under the artistic direction and curatorship of the festival’s founder, Giuseppe Oliverio, and with the support of MPB as main sponsor, this year’s edition brought the two events together for the first time, spreading across Bologna from 1 to 4 October. The theme, Archipelago, allowed both the exhibited works and the festival itself to be conceived as a relational network. It stretched from the main venue at Ex Ospedale dei Bastardini to Photobook Mania’s greenhouse at Serre dei Giardini Margherita, through free installations at the Archiginnasio, PhMuseum Lab and the CHEAP billboards on Via dell’Abbadia, and out to the OFF circuit hubs of Spazio Labo’ and Fondazione Home Movies.
Main Circuit and Screenings: Ex Ospedale dei Bastardini
From environmental shifts to political memory, the featured artists engaged in a dialogue spanning distinct geographies, visual languages and social realities. Inside Ex Ospedale dei Bastardini, 2020-MMXX by Max Pinckers, Homographs. A Pictionary by Allegra Baggio Corradi, and Every Exit Is An Entrance Somewhere Else by Jonah Samson questioned the very nature of photography and images, inviting visitors to consider the archipelagic nature of language and meaning. Italia O Italia by Federico Clavarino and (H) by Daniel Martínez brought a historical and sociological perspective to the theme, while Axolotl by Francisco Cantón and How To Carry A Home by Robin Alysha Clemens offered deeply personal narratives.
Alongside the exhibitions, a dedicated screening presented twenty projects selected through our open calls, gathering the voices of emerging photographers from around the world. Brought together in a single sequence, still images, moving images and sound echoed and contrasted between them, showing how a multimedia experience can open new ways of reading, connecting and sharing images.
Public and Off Circuit
Elsewhere in Bologna, Absolute: Tehran Cats by Caro Mirzoyan, on view on the CHEAP billboards until 24 October, celebrates survival and creative resilience under surveillance. At PhMuseum Lab, Screenshots From A Series Of Videos About A Rice Field And Its Surroundings by Cintia Tortosa Santisteban observed the quiet transformation of time. For the third consecutive year, the courtyard of the Biblioteca dell’Archiginnasio hosted the collective open-call exhibition Archipelago. It displayed the work of 39 international artists, printed on large semi-transparent nautical fabric banners in dialogue with the iconic former seat of the University of Bologna, the oldest university in continuous operation in the world.
Finally, the newly introduced OFF circuit reinforced our commitment to building collaborative networks with local institutions. At Fondazione Home Movies, Benedetta Fioravanti’s short film Us Above The Brutes wove archival footage and online imagery together with research on a former juvenile reformatory. Meanwhile, Spazio Labo’ hosted Tra noi by Roman Manfredi, curated by Laura De Marco. In his first solo exhibition in Italy, the artist drew on oral histories, Super 8 film and photography to explore marginalised identities and belonging between the UK and Naples.
Workshop: The Man of Family
In collaboration with Fondazione MAST and the Academy of Fine Arts of Bologna, artist and educator Adam Broomberg led The Man of Family, a free workshop built around Edward Steichen’s The Family of Man. That landmark 1955 exhibition at the Museum of Modern Art in New York presented photography as a universal language of shared humanity. By inverting its title, the workshop invited participants to question that promise of universality: who was included, who was left out, and whose gaze shaped the story being told.
Working with collage and AI tools, participants dismantled, reassembled and reimagined the exhibition’s images. They tested how emerging technologies can be used not only to generate new pictures, but also to critically reread the visual archives that have shaped our collective imagination. Rooted in Broomberg’s long-standing practice of reworking photographic archives and interrogating the politics of representation, the session became a space for collective thinking as much as making.
Book Fair: Photobook Mania
Over the weekend, Photobook Mania returned for its 2nd edition at Serre dei Giardini Margherita, a bright and welcoming venue surrounded by greenery. This year’s line-up introduced many new voices from across Europe and beyond, helping establish the fair as a hub for dialogue on contemporary publishing culture. Exhibitors included Altana (Italy), Asola Press (Italy), Atelier Tatanka (Italy), Blow Up Press (Poland), CESURA Publish (Italy), Ciao Press (Switzerland), Chose Commune (France), Départ pour l’Image (Italy), Editorial RM (Spain / Mexico), Erik Kessels (Netherlands), Gnomic Book (United States), GOST Books (United Kingdom), ISIA U (Italy), KABK (Netherlands), L’Artiere (Italy), Leporello photobooks et al. (Italy), Overlapse (United Kingdom), PhMuseum (Italy), RVM Hub (Italy), Shibboleth (Italy), Witty Books (Italy) and Yogurt Editions (Italy).
Within Photobook Mania, our annual exhibition Dummies & Books From FOLIO presented the prototypes created by participants in the fifth edition of PhMuseum’s Online Masterclass on Photobook Making. Over eight months, under the guidance of Nicolas Polli, they transformed their photographic work into editorial projects. The exhibition featured books by Ege Tascioglu, Federica Carducci, Julia Bohle, Justina Leston, Manu Gruber and Tim Gassauer, Marge Westreich, Raul Guillermo, Stefanie Lagenhoven, Stephanie Schwiederek, Vivian Poey and Yvette Monahan.
Curated by Atelier Tatanka, The Riso Book presented a selection of publications from across Europe exploring what happens when photography, editorial design and risograph printing meet. In this territory, the image is not only reproduced but becomes an integral part of the book’s material and construction.
Thank you and see you next year
We are amazed and grateful for the remarkable participation of more than 11,000 visitors of all ages, from Italy, the rest of Europe and overseas. Our heartfelt thanks go to all the artists, publishers and visitors who travelled from near and far, strengthening the reach of our community. We are also grateful to Comune di Bologna, MPB and Banca di Bologna for supporting the initiative, and to all the team members and volunteers whose work made it possible.
Over four days, Bologna became a true archipelago: a network of places, images and people connected by a shared curiosity for photography. The conversations started in the exhibition rooms, at the publishers’ tables and during the workshop are, for us, the festival’s most valuable legacy, and we look forward to seeing where they lead.
See you next year for the third edition of Photobook Mania, and in 2028 for the sixth edition of PhMuseum Days.
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You can follow our activities year-round at the PhMuseum Lab, and our grant and education program on PhMuseum.com. Follow PhMuseum Days and Photobook Mania on Instagram to catch a more extensive round-up in the upcoming weeks.
