From 23 to 26 May 2024, the first edition of BIG, Biennale Internazionale Grafica, a widespread festival dedicated to communication design and visual cultures, conceived and curated by Francesco Dondina, will be staged in the Milano Certosa District.
Between exhibitions, installations, talks, events and social projects, the festival develops from the main hub of the Milano Certosa District and the institutional headquarters of the ADI Design Museum , spreading throughout the city in collaboration with important cultural institutions and Milanese realities, from museums to galleries, from schools to universities, up to archives, graphic studios and bookstores, and also outside the borders of Milan thanks to the launch of an important partnership with Graphic Days(R) Torino.
Born from the experience of the Milano Graphic Festival, which in March 2022 saw more than 20 thousand visitors discover over 80 events including exhibitions, workshops, screenings and meetings, BIG renews its format – from this year every two years and with an international profile.
The aim is to promote the design of visual communication also and above all outside the restricted circle of professionals, to promote a correct perception of the discipline and its role by the general public. To do this, BIG addresses a series of cross-cutting topics that give rise to opportunities for discussion and debate: from urban regeneration to the environment, from gender identity to training, with a particular focus on the city, young people and sustainability.
The nerve center of the event will be the Milano Certosa District which will host, in the fascinating location of La Cattedrale, exhibitions, talks and in-depth workshops with Italian and international protagonists such as Franco Achilli, Silvana Amato, Luca Barcellona, Reudi Baur, Peter Bil'ak, Matteo Bologna, Federica Fragapane, Claude Marzotto, Sergio Menichelli, Armando Milani, Massimo Pitis, Nicolas Rouvière, Maia Sambonet, Marta Sironi and many others.
Also on the program are several social projects that promote the use of visual languages as a vehicle for learning and as a tool for the expression of subjectivity and act in the areas of neighborhood identity, prison, kindergarten and disability. Carried out in collaboration with local communities and educational and rehabilitation institutions, many of these projects, not surprisingly, come to life in the regenerated spaces of the Milano Certosa District, a reality at the center of an important redevelopment project that in its transformation path pays particular attention to the values of inclusion, sense of community and services to people.
During the four evenings of the event there will be no shortage of events designed to experience graphics even in the outdoor areas of the district.
EXHIBITIONS IN THE CERTOSA DISTRICT
Here are the main exhibitions that will be hosted in the locations of the Milano Certosa District:
- The third edition of the SIGNS exhibition, curated by Francesco Dondina, presents the work of 24 graphic studios, from the most established to the most promising, offering an insight into the state of graphics and design of Italian communication, always capable of renewing itself and confronting the international scene. As part of the partnership with Graphic Days(R) Torino, the exhibition is divided between the two festivals and exhibits 12 studios in Milan and 12 in Turin.
- Music to watch, an exhibition project curated by Luca Barcellona that starts from his personal collection of vinyl records to build a visual story through a selection of limited record productions of extraordinary refinement and quality.
- The exhibition Bob Noorda, metropolitan graphic designer, curated by Francesco Dondina and Catharin Noorda with the Franco Albini Foundation, which pays homage to the Dutch master, graphic designer of line 1 of the Milan underground, one of the most important urban signage interventions of all time.
- The exhibition Sorrows in graphic design, curated by Maurizio Milani, brings to light unrealized projects by 18 graphic designers who for the first time exhibit 3 of their "discarded" works.
- The exhibition The Artisan Sea, curated by Franco Achilli, for which large-scale works were created on scraps of the carpet used for the Helmut Newton Legacy exhibition (Palazzo Reale, Milan, 2023), obtained from the recycling of plastic waste recovered in the Mediterranean Sea.
- The initiatives organized by AIAP (Italian Association of Visual Communication Design) AWDA. Aiap Women in Design Award, a biennial international award for visual communication designers, and AIAP Community, an event open to its members to present their visual communication projects and increase the sense of community in communication design.
- The exhibition with the works selected for the motion, poster and artificial intelligence categories as part of the Neology open call, curated by Graphic Days(R) Torino, which invites young visual designers to submit their most representative, experimental project characterized by a stylistic and language contamination.
- The interactive exhibition Motion Graphics that enhances contemporary motion graphics through multimedia projects created with the most modern technologies in the digital field.
- The Lazy dog book shop with a selection of the best volumes dedicated to graphics, typography and illustration edited by the Lazy dog publishing house.
TALKS AND INITIATIVES IN THE CERTOSA DISTRICT
The Certosa District hub will also host meetings and talks with Italian and international designers. The protagonists of these moments of in-depth analysis dedicated to professionals, students and enthusiasts are Matteo Bologna, founder and creative director of Mucca, Peter Bil'Ak, designer and founder of Fontstand, Luca Barcellona, a leading name in the world of modern calligraphy, and many others.