The landscape as a form of reflection, as a gateway to an experience made up of discrete perceptions and attunements. The images of Luigi Ghirri compose a cartography of places on which to measure our presence in the world, they speak to those who observe them with the same subtle but solid language of sound - something that alters the way the eye learns to settle on things. From the end of April 2026 until February 2027, as part of the XXI edition of the Fotografia Europea festival, Palazzo dei Musei in Reggio Emilia chooses to pay homage with an exhibition to this "mysterious kinship" that has fascinated and inspired the renowned photographer in the construction of his visual language, but which has rarely been given space at the institutional level.
Titled in reference to Bob Dylan "A Series of Dreams. Visual Landscapes and Soundscapes," curated by Ilaria Campioli, Andrea Tinterri and with the musical curatorship of Giulia Cavaliere, the exhibition was created within the permanent photographic section dedicated to Ghirri in the city museum, inaugurated in 2021 with a rearrangement signed by architect Italo Rota. Conceived as a plastic environment, devoted to the active participation of the public and the development of critical thinking, this floor of the museum welcomes each year new projects that reread the author's production through unprecedented contemporary perspectives, deepening its understanding thanks to a synergistic collaboration between the Municipality of Reggio Emilia, the Civic Museums, the Panizzi Library Photo Library and the Luigi Ghirri Foundation.
From the dialogue between sound and image emerges an exhibition structured around three distinct sections. The first unfolds along a corridor of photographs focusing on the physical presence of music in the world: theatre interiors, solitary jukeboxes and graffiti depicting musical instruments. These images do not document concerts or performances; rather, they capture sound as cultural sediment and historical trace.
The second section examines Ghirri’s direct connections with the world of Italian music, highlighting friendships and collaborations with Lucio Dalla, Gianni Morandi, Ron, Luca Carboni and the band CCCP – Fedeli alla linea. These relationships are narrated through previously unseen materials and through the work of Paola Borgonzoni—Ghirri’s partner in life and a key collaborator behind numerous editorial projects and record covers produced over the years. A special focus on this work is also presented in the octagonal hall of Teatro Valli.
The third chapter—titled Beyond Those Mountains, the Sea —moves into more experimental territory through a site-specific intervention by musician, producer and composer Iosonouncane. The artist’s project places Ghirri’s “ecology of vision” in dialogue with the “acoustic ecology” theorised by Canadian composer and scholar Raymond Murray Schafer, the originator of the concept of soundscape. These two sensibilities, without ever meeting, were reflecting during the same decades of the twentieth century on similar questions: the growing difficulty of perceiving the world within an increasingly saturated environment.
Accompanying this introspective and personal journey—grounded in archival research, critical reflection and listening—are original audio contents by Giulia Cavaliere, inviting visitors to experience the exhibition not only through sight but also through sound. Dialogues, interviews and in-depth features create a layered sensory experience that recognises the sonic landscape as a fundamental framework in shaping a photographic identity built on relationships in the here and now.
Exhibition: Curated by: Ilaria Campioli, Andrea Tinterri, and Giulia Cavaliere Where: Palazzo dei Musei di Reggio Emilia, Reggio Emilia, Italy Dates: April 30, 2026 to February 28, 2027
Opening image: Luigi Ghirri, Porto Recanati, 1984 © Eredi Luigi Ghirri