Objets trouvés – Archives for a department store

Objets trouvés – Archives for a department store

 

The Department store – and in particular an outstanding commissioner as La Rinascente, in its double dimension of great urban element and of labyrinth of goods and desires – has been chosen by Archivio-Museo CSAC as research field, being exceptionally apt to represent an archive of stock images and projects of the XX century. Not only photographs but also sketches, fashion catalogs, advertisements, final drawings, packaging, final products: these are all objets trouvés (“found objects”) that reconstruct and fragmentally suggest a potential for countless stories.

This investigation started from the photographic campaigns commissioned to Publifoto Roma who systematically documented the construction works (1959/62) of the new Rinascente building on Piazza Fiume in Rome, designed by Franco Albini. They also covered the composition of its large shop windows, as they influenced the different fashion seasons and life of Italian families between 1955 and 1957. Multiple object, clothing and architecture designs and representations derived from these campaigns.

Other objets that emerge from the archives invite to a reflection on the specificity of Photography. These are studies that investigate the dimension of the double, the themes of mirroring, of fragments, and of the urban dimension of shop windows, from the 20s and 30s (Florence Henri, Man Ray, Stefani), to the 70s (Fabio Mauri, Paola Mattioli, Ugo la Pietra, Luigi Ghirri).

In the Fashion section, the research covers from the 20s to the 60s and shows how dresses have been shot and presented on different media: magazine advertising, catwalks, shop windows, fashion catalogues.

Another part of the exhibit explores the interaction between different archives, from the historical documentation of the Rinascente prize Compasso d’Oro (Marcello Nizzoli, Roberto Sambonet, Roberto Menghi, …), to internal and external product presentations by Gio Ponti, Sambonet and Pino Tovaglia (store windows, interior fittings and signposting). Finally, the architecture section focuses on two case studies from the CSAC archives: the Rinascente building in Milan, designed by Ferdinando Reggiori, and Ignazio Gardella’s plans for the never realized Piazza Colonna Rinascente in Rome.

exhibition venue

Centro Studi e Archivio della Comunicazione

Università degli Studi di Parma
Abbazia di Valserena

Viazza di Paradigna 1

Parma

 

7

 

opening hours

May 7 – October 30 2017

opening May 7 11am

Tuesday till Friday > 10am-3pm

Saturday and Sunday > 10am-8pm

 

Tickets

10€

Reduced Admission: groups, visitors under 18 years, students, teachers

Free admission: under 13

for all the fees

 

info

+39 0521 607791

servizimuseali@csacparma.it  – www.csacparma.it