Introduction
The Floriano Bodini Civic Museum in Gemonio, in collaboration with AFI (Italian Photographic Archive), the Floriano Bodini Archive in Milan, and the Gemonio Pro Loco Association, is pleased to present the international photography contest Floriano Bodini. Nuovi sguardi, dedicated to the sculptures of Floriano Bodini and their presence within public spaces and the contemporary landscape.
The contest was conceived as part of the 8th Day of Artistic Crafts (3 May 2026), held within the framework of JEMA – European Days of Arts and Crafts, whose 2026 edition at the Bodini Museum was dedicated to art photography. Over the years, the Day of Artistic Crafts has brought together artists, craftspeople, scholars, and the general public to explore the techniques and traditions of artistic craftsmanship—including bronze casting, engraving and fine art printing, marble working, ceramics, wood, glass, and medal-making, each featured in different editions.
Through workshops, live demonstrations, exhibitions, and educational activities, the initiative aims to celebrate artistic and artisanal heritage while fostering dialogue between tradition and contemporary artistic practice.
The project
Within this context, the photography contest Floriano Bodini. Nuovi sguardi was created to invite photographers, artists, and photography enthusiasts to engage with Floriano Bodini’s sculptures located in public spaces and collections.
The contest accompanies the publication of the volume Floriano Bodini. Viaggio in Italia, edited by Sara Bodini, Anita Membrini, and Lara Treppiede. The book presents a comprehensive survey of the artist’s works located in public collections, monuments, churches, and institutional spaces throughout Italy and abroad. It also serves as a valuable reference for participants, providing useful guidance for discovering, understanding, and interpreting Bodini’s public sculptures.
The contest seeks to transform this editorial project into a contemporary visual mapping by encouraging participants to photograph and reinterpret Bodini’s sculptures in the places where they continue to exist and interact with today’s environment.
Submitted photographs may either document the works or offer personal and artistic interpretations, exploring the relationship between sculpture, urban space, landscape, everyday life, and the contemporary gaze. Participants are therefore welcome to submit both documentary photographs and creatively interpreted or artistically reimagined images.
The aim of the competition is to:
- Stimulate a contemporary perspective on Floriano Bodini’s work
- Create a network of photographers and enthusiasts around his sculpture
- Collect new images of his works nationally and internationally
- Build a widespread photographic archive dedicated to the presence of Bodini’s sculpture in public spaces.