With the purpose to answer the request for a space where different directions, tendencies and questions characterizing the realm of contemporary photography could converge, The Phair has opened in Turin, a fair created by Roberto Casiraghi and Paola Rampini, developed by a Team of seven curators in exchange with 35 galleries, invited to represent the complexity of contemporary scene.

The Phair articulates fair as a tool in different directions.  The first is the urban function, represented by  the use of a space of attraction within the core of the city (the former stock exchange by Gabetti & Isola, currently abandoned). A second direction is based on trading: a place developed for market is reactivated through the — art — market itself.

A third direction comes from the interpretation of the concept of a fair: The Phair aims to assess the current situation of photography through different critical trajectories where evolutionary perspectives can be envisioned. A fair as it is intended since the beginning of Contemporary age: showcase of a state of the art, but outline of its future development as well, of what the forthcoming fairs will show.

As confirmed by Luca Panaro, coordinator of the curatorial team and a teacher at Brera Academy for fine Arts, such aspect of the concept is furtherly articulated within the project. Concentrating on the Italian scene as a starting point, The Phair has established a dialogue with galleries to select both established/historical and emerging photographers — promoting these last ones.

A large part of the investigation on current conditions of photography has then been developed through a series of talks, joining curators, artists and experts, in the form a web tv  streaming that will survive the fair as a single event, and co constitute a permanent archive  — available on The Phair’s website — for reflections and research. The main topics are publishing, new media, collectors, foundations, young authors, market, education, archives, the role of museums and clients.