Milan Celebrates the Revolutionary Vision of Photography Legend Oliviero Toscani

The magnificent halls of Milan's Palazzo Reale came alive on Sunday as the city paid tribute to Oliviero Toscani, the visionary Italian photographer who transformed advertising into a powerful medium for social commentary.

The special one-day exhibition, "Viva Oliviero!", drew art enthusiasts, photographers, and cultural figures who gathered to honor a master storyteller whose images have challenged perspectives and ignited global conversations.

Throughout the seven-hour exhibition, visitors wandered through carefully curated galleries showcasing Toscani's most impactful work, including his revolutionary campaigns for Benetton that broke traditional advertising boundaries. These iconic images, which tackled themes from racial equality to human rights, demonstrated how Toscani elevated commercial photography into a form of social activism that resonated far beyond billboards and magazine pages.

The exhibition designers transformed the palace's historic rooms into immersive spaces where Toscani's photographs engaged in silent dialogue with the venue's centuries-old architecture. His groundbreaking body of work sparked discussions among visitors about how his techniques influenced everything from photojournalism to contemporary social commentary.

Toscani's impact on visual culture extends far beyond traditional photography. His work opened new possibilities for addressing social issues through images, inspiring a generation of photographers and artists to pursue truth over comfort. The exhibition highlighted how his distinctive approach changed the landscape of both artistic and commercial photography.

Milan's tribute to Toscani served as both a celebration and a reminder of photography's power to shape social consciousness.

As visitors departed Palazzo Reale, the exhibition had successfully showcased how his images continue to challenge viewers to confront uncomfortable realities and question their assumptions about art, advertising, and social responsibility.

The Shape of Light: Groundbreaking Study Visualizes Single Photon

The shape of a single photon (Credits: Benjamin Yuen)

Scientists at the University of Birmingham have achieved a breakthrough in quantum physics by developing a new theory that reveals the precise shape of a single photon for the first time. The research, published in Physical Review Letters and led by Dr. Benjamin Yuen and Professor Angela Demetriadou, provides unprecedented insight into how light particles interact with matter at the quantum level.

The study addresses a long-standing challenge in quantum physics: modeling the infinite possibilities of light-matter interactions. The research team innovatively grouped these possibilities into distinct sets, creating a computational model that describes both the immediate interactions between photons and emitters, and how the energy propagates into the surrounding space.

A significant achievement of this work was the creation of the first-ever visualization of a single photon, which emerged as a byproduct of their theoretical calculations. This visualization was made possible by transforming what was previously considered an unsolvable problem into a computable model.

The implications of this research extend far beyond theoretical physics. The ability to precisely define photon-matter interactions opens new possibilities in various practical applications, including secure communications, pathogen detection, and molecular-level chemical reaction control. Professor Demetriadou emphasized that environmental factors, such as geometry and optical properties, significantly influence photon behavior, including their shape, color, and probability of existence.

Dr. Yuen highlighted two key contributions of their work: enhanced understanding of light-matter energy exchange and better comprehension of light radiation patterns in both near and far fields. Information previously dismissed as noise can now be interpreted and utilized meaningfully. This deeper understanding lays the groundwork for engineering advanced light-matter interactions, with potential applications in improving sensors, photovoltaic cells, and quantum computing systems.

The University of Birmingham is ranked amongst the world’s top 100 institutions. Its work brings people from across the world to Birmingham, including researchers, teachers and more than 8,000 international students from over 150 countries.

4th edition of Milano Drawing Week, nine days of art on paper

The Collezione Ramo presents the fourth edition of Milano Drawing Week, a 13-stage journey dedicated to drawing, including contemporary artists and masters of the last century. For nine days, works on paper take center stage in a series of exhibitions in museums and galleries throughout Milan's urban network.

The Collezione Ramo, Italian Drawing of the 20th and 21st Centuries , presents, from Saturday , November 23 to Sunday, December 1, 2024, the fourth edition of Milano Drawing Week, an annual event realized in collaboration with and under the patronage of theDepartment of Culture of the City of Milan. The project takes shape in a constellation of exhibitions spread throughout the Milanese territory, presenting the work of historicized artists, active on the current scene or emerging, with the aim of enhancing the production on paper and promoting its knowledge among an increasingly wide audience.

The project formula calls for the Collezione Ramo to open up to the city, making available to cultural institutions and galleries a selection of works on paper by 20th-century Italian artists. Artists of different origins and generations, active in the field of drawing, are invited to choose a work from this nucleus coming from the Collezione Ramo, to be placed in dialogue with their own research within one of the 13 spaces involved.The aim is to make the great historical and artistic heritage guarded by the Collection dialogue with the instances that nourish current research, while also offering the public an opportunity to delve into a little-visible medium that unites creatives of all disciplines, capable of speaking with immediacy to the entire public.

The route of Milano Drawing Week 2024 involves 3 civic institutions such as Castello Sforzesco and, for the first time,the Cittadella degli Archivi of the City of Milan and Casa degli Artisti, joined by 10 art galleries from Milan and beyond: Ciaccia Levi, kaufmann repetto, Loom Gallery, Monica De Cardenas, Nashira Gallery, Settantaventidue, Spazio Lima, Vistamare, with the special participation of APALAZZOGALLERY from Brescia and Ex Elettrofonica from Rome, two galleries that for the first time participate by finding hospitality in the city.

Milan Drawing Week presents the work of artists Alexandra Barth (Malacky, Slovakia, 1989), Monia Ben Hamouda (Milan, 1991), Sergio Breviario (Bergamo, 1974), Corydon Cowansage (Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, United States, 1985), Giulia Dall Olio (Bologna, 1983), Leonardo Devito (Florence, 1997), Tom Friedman (Louis Park, Minnesota, United States, 1953), Alex Katz (Brooklyn, New York, United States, 1927), Marco Paleari (Desio, 1998), Nathlie Provosty (Cincinnati, Ohio, United States, 1981) in dialogue with those of great masters of the last century such as: Enrico Baj (Milan, 1924 - Vergiate, 2003), Irma Blank (Celle, Germany, 1934 - Milan, 2023), Alberto Burri (Città di Castello, 1915 - Nice, France, 1995), Domenico Gnoli (Rome, 1933 - New York, New York, United States, 1970), Piero Manzoni (Soncino, 1933 - Milan, 1963), Fausto Melotti (Rovereto, 1901 - Milan, 1986), Mario Merz (Milan, 1925 - Turin, 2003), Michelangelo Pistoletto (Biella, 1933), Carol Rama (Turin, 1918 - Turin, 2015), and Emilio Scanavino (Genoa, 1922 - Milan, 1986), in an exhibition oriented to bring new light to the expressive medium of drawing.

The project, entirely conceived and organized by Collezione Ramo, then includes the major Brazilian exhibition from Paulo Bruscky 's archive, which for the first time involves an international curator, Jacopo Crivelli Visconti, in Milano Drawing Week ; the solo show of Manuel Scano Larrazàbal, the first one produced by Collezione Ramo for the occasion ; and, as part of the exhibition Alberto Martini e la danza macabra, curated and produced by the Gabinetto dei Disegni in the Salette della Grafica of Castello Sforzesco, there will be a focus dedicated to the dialogue between the macabre ink strokes of Alberto Martini (Oderzo, 1876 - Milan, 1954) and Vincenzo Agnetti (Milan, 1926 - 1980).

A schedule of collateral events, spread throughout the duration of the event, from Saturday, Nov. 23 to Sunday, Dec. 1, enriches the program by including meetings open to the public with internationally prominent curators and workshops with artists and teachers exploring the infinite potential of the work on paper. 

Also returning for the second year is the Milan Drawing Week Prize, among the very few awards dedicated to drawing in Italy, awarded to one of the participating contemporary artists. The Prize, supported entirely by Gruppo Censeo, consists of a cash award of €3,000 as an incentive for continuity in production on paper. The winner of the previous edition is the artist Umberto Chiodi, with the work Bestiary (2023).The jury of architects and designers is composed as follows: Diego Marelli, Chiara Marinoni (Asti Architetti), Alvin Grassi (Alvin Grassi Design Studio Milano), Sonja Vizzini (Vizzini), Michele Vitaloni and Cecilia Candiloro (Charmitaliastudio), Luca Bombassei (Luca Bombassei Studio).

WHAT'S NEW IN THIS EDITION

Institutional collaborations While the prestigious collaboration with the Castello Sforzesco's Drawings Cabinet is renewed, which presents the exhibition Alberto Martini: the Macabre Dance, in the form of a silent dialogue between the work of Alberto Martini and that of Vincenzo Agnetti, the Cittadella degli Archivi of the City of Milan and Casa degli Artisti are participating for the first time in Milano Drawing Week. 

The Cittadella degli Archivi will host the group exhibition Political Attitude. Artists of Latin America from the Paulo Bruscky Archive dedicated toPaulo Bruscky, exhibited in Italy for the first time since its presentation at the Instituto de Arte contemporanea IAC in São Paulo curated by Jacopo Crivelli Visconti in 2023. The exhibition features works that escaped the censorship of Latin America's dictatorships and were collected in the Brazilian artist's postal art archive, never before exhibited outside Brazil's borders-a European premiere exclusively for Milan Design Week.

The Artists' House hosts the exhibition Rampant Paper and Drawing Tool by Manuel Scano Larrazàbal: a large installation that includes a giant rotating drawing and a machine that draws in real time with suspended markers, produced and curated by Collezione Ramo and made entirely from Canson and Lyra products.

The exhibition curated by Irina Zucca Alessandrelli, curator of the Collezione Ramo.Another new feature of this edition is the exhibition curated by Irina Zucca Alessandrelli at the Settantaventidue space, the new hub on the Navigli that combines sound art, books and architecture to promote new talents who are dedicated to creation on paper. The exhibition presents the work of young emerging artist, not yet represented by a gallery, Marco Paleari, in dialogue with the work of nuclear art master Enrico Baj.

The new calendar of workshops

Finally, debuting in this edition is a program of workshops on drawing practice designed to be accessible and engaging to all audiences. The calendar includes workshops with structured activities for adults and children, aimed at the creation of an elaborate work that is different each time and that allows them to experiment with the many techniques that characterize work on paper.The workshops will be held at Casa degli Artisti with artist Manuel Scano Larrazàbal, Casa Platform with Martina Zena and at the Ceramica Sant'Agostino showroom with Monika Dattner.