The first edition of the Milano Graphic Festival shows the best examples in Italian visual communication
From 11 to 13 February 2022, Milan will host the first edition of the Milano Graphic Festival (MGF). The new scattered festival dedicated to graphic design, illustration and visual cultures will bring to the city a rich calendar of events, including exhibitions, workshops, talks, lectures, studio visits and installations, with Italian and international guests. Promoted by SIGNS and h+, and curated by Francesco Dondina, the Festival will take place at the Certosa Graphic Village and BASE Milano; the events are organized in collaboration with important Milan-based cultural institutions and entities operating in the sector.
“Graphics are everywhere, everywhere you look; in the streets and public spaces, in homes, offices, on store shelves, in everyday objects, and in all communication. Graphics has contributed to building the identity and culture of a country,” explains the curator, Francesco Dondina. For this reason, Milano Graphic Festival will involve a wide audience, also including simple curious and enthusiasts for the sector eager to discover how visual communication is changing.
The Festival will stage exhibitions and initiatives in the most important city institutions dedicated to the languages of visual communication, art and design. Among these, we can mention Triennale Milano, ADI Design Museum, Castello Sforzesco, Società Umanitaria, MUBA – Museo dei Bambini Milano, Casa degli Artisti.
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Graphics in Milan in a new light
The Milano Graphic Festival will have two main hubs: BASE Milano, in the Tortona area, and Certosa Graphic Village, a new space dedicated to creativity that will come to life in the Certosa District on the occasion of the Festival; one more reason to visit the district in the north-west of Milan, currently at the center of a lively redevelopment focused on innovation.
In the spaces of BASE Milano, SIGNS, the permanent observatory on visual design involving over 100 Italian designers and graphic studios, will present the exhibition SIGNS II. Grafica Italiana Contemporanea (Contemporary Italian Graphics), the second chapter of the homonymous exhibition held at the former Ansaldo complex at the end of 2016. Among the participants in the exhibition: Salvatore Gregorietti, Andrea Rauch, Paolo Tassinari, Paola Lenarduzzi, Silvana Amato, La Tigre and Franco Achilli.
The Certosa Graphic Village will be a temporary creative space occupying 3,000 square meters, dedicated to contemporary creativity. There, designers under 30 will participate in a special urban graphics project for the performative exhibition Generazione YZ. The Village will also be the place dedicated to meetings, experiences and research; talks with Italian and international designers, project rooms, thematic lectures, performances and workshops will enliven a rich program dedicated to professionals, students and people of all ages who love visual design.
It will host the first meeting curated by Franco Achilli involving Italy’s major visual design schools and some exhibitions on the masters of visual design such as the retrospective dedicated to John Alcorn, curated by Marta Sironi. The Milano Graphic Festival proposes itself as a hub of ideas and relations concerning visual communication, also putting the business world in contact with the best Italian communication design.
