On the occasion of the exhibition "Portraits. Florence and Damien Bachelot Collection," a series of public lectures is being offered to explore the theme of photographic portraiture, exploring its forms, uses, and meanings through interdisciplinary perspectives.
The program is structured into events designed to offer new perspectives: from portraiture as an expressive language in cinema, to its symbolic and documentary role in the process of national unification, to the personal and intimate story of two collectors who share their passion for photography as an act of memory, identity, and connection.
NEXT MEETING: September 30, 2025 | 18:00 PM | Collecting Photography: A Mad Passion
Damien Bachelot, collector of the Portraits exhibition, talks with Elena Franco, architect, photographer, and "secret" collector. Moderated by Tiziana Bonomo.
ℹ️ – Book online or by calling 011 5621147 (Mon–Fri 09:00–18:00; Sat, Sun, and holidays 10:00–18:00)
FIRST EVENT | THURSDAY, JULY 17, 2025 | 18 PM
Unexpected Cinema. Portraits from the Cinema.
A dialogue between Simone Martinetto, stage photographer, Giulio Sangiorgio, journalist and film critic. Moderated by Tiziana Bonomo.
For the opening meeting, the theme of portraiture is compared with cinema and its myths. Thanks to the images of Simone Martinetto and the skill of Giulio Sangiorgio We will witness a lively exchange of ideas on what portraits can tell us about famous actors, film stories, and the eternal contrast between photography and cinema.
In collaboration with ArtPhotò, which launches the new series "Weaving Words and Images" dedicated to cinema. A meeting to see and hear.
Simone Martinetto (Turin, 1980) works as a photographer, director, artist, and lecturer at the University of Bologna. His artistic research uses photography as his primary medium, but also incorporates video, installation, and writing. As a still photographer for film, he has worked on major film productions in recent years, following their entire production process and photographing some of the most renowned Italian and French directors and actors, such as Marco Bellocchio, Giuliano Montaldo, Lina Wertmuller, Isabella Rossellini, Alba Rohrwacher, Berenice Bejo, Margherita Buy, Pierfrancesco Favino, Valerio Mastandrea, and many others..
Julius Sangiorgio (Lecco, 1984) is a critic, teacher, and programmer. He is the editor-in-chief of the weekly film, television, music, and entertainment magazine "Film TV" and of the historic magazine published by the Centro Sperimentale di Cinematografia "Bianco e Nero." He teaches Forms and Models of Contemporary Cinema at IULM University in Milan. In the festival field, he directs I Mille Occhi – International Film and Arts Festival of Trieste and the BA Film Festival of Busto Arsizio, and is a member of the selection committee of the Filmmaker Festival of Milan.
SECOND EVENT | THURSDAY, SEPTEMBER 11, 2025 | 18 PM
The face of RisorgimentoPortrait and the Birth of a Nation Through Photography.
A dialogue between Alessio Petrizzo, researcher at the University of Padua, and Silvia Cavicchioli, scientific director of the National Museum of Risorgimento Italian. Moderated by Alessandro Bollo.
Silvia Cavicchioli and Alessio Petrizzo discuss the role and significance of photographic language in the context of the Risorgimento, analyzing its functions of testimony, symbolic construction, and legitimization of national identity. The discussion begins with a selection of emblematic images from the photographic archive of the National Museum of Risorgimento Italian, offering food for thought on how photography contributed to “image-imageing” the birth of the nation.
- Silvia Cavicchioli (1971) scientific director of the National Museum of Risorgimento An Italian, he teaches Contemporary History at the Department of Historical Studies at the University of Turin, where he chairs the degree program in Cultural Heritage. His latest publications include Sfida al Congresso di Vienna (Carocci, 2023), I cimeli della patria (Carocci, 2022), and Anita. Storia e mito di Anita Garibaldi (Einaudi, 2017).
- Alessio Petrizzo Researcher at the University of Padua, where he teaches Contemporary History and Media and Communication in History. He trained and worked at the Universities of Pisa, Florence, Bari, Lausanne, and Lyon. He is interested in nineteenth-century political and cultural history. On visual culture topics, he has curated or co-curated: The Long Nineteenth Century and Its Images. Politics, Media, Entertainment (Pisa 2013); the exhibition Political Icons. Celebrities and New Media in the Age of Risorgimento (Mantua 2018); Visuality and Political Socialization in the Long Italian Nineteenth Century (École française de Rome 2018). Among his latest publications: Parole di brigante. Storia e autobiografia di Luigi Martino, 1841-1902 (Rome 2025).
THIRD EVENT | TUESDAY, SEPTEMBER 30, 2025 | 18 PM
Collecting photography: a crazy passion.
Damien Bachelot, the collector behind the "Portraits" exhibition, talks with Elena Franco, architect, photographer, and secret collector. Moderated by Tiziana Bonomo.
It's fascinating to discover, through the exchange between two collectors—and not only them—how their shared passion ties to the desire to explore, while keeping images close to them to gaze upon, re-examine, and explore further. Damien Bachelot is well acquainted with Elena Franco's work and her focus on France and neighboring countries. Elena Franco is also familiar with Damien Bachelot's seriousness, commitment, and passion. A dialogue rich in nuance and curious surprises.
- Damien Bachelot Damien Bachelot is a French art collector recognized for his passion for humanist and documentary photography. Since the early 2000s, Damien and his wife, Florence, have built one of the most important private photography collections in France, known as the Bachelot Collection. Their collection, which includes approximately a thousand prints, highlights 20th-century humanist, social, and documentary photography, while also embracing contemporary works. They regularly exhibit their work in prestigious venues, such as the Villa Medici in Rome and now in Turin, illustrating a century of photographic history.
- Elena Franco He works in territorial planning and public policy, often incorporating photography into his projects as a tool for documentation and research. Since 2012, he has focused on places of care with the photographic project Hospitalia, which has been exhibited in numerous national and international contexts and is included in public and private collections. A collector himself, he has developed an ongoing reflection on the value and use of archives as a design and cultural resource.
