Interview: Corinna Del Bianco
Luca Curci talks with Corinna Del Bianco during FUTURE LANDSCAPES, 3rd Appointment of BORDERS ART FAIR 2021, at THE ROOM Contemporary Art Space.

Corinna Del Bianco (Florence/Milan) is a photographer and a researcher, PhD and an adjunct professor of urban design at the Politecnico di Milano. Her research concerns the documentation and analysis of the cultural identity of places, with a focus on the culture of living in self-built urban environments and on tourism dynamics. She is a founder and board member of the Fondazione Romualdo Del Bianco, a foundation dedicated to dialogue among cultures. In her practice, she develops research, curatorial projects, didactic and editorial activities on architecture and urban studies.

Luca Curci – What’s your background? What is the experience that has influenced your work the most?
Corinna Del Bianco – I studied architecture and I have a PhD in architecture and urban design at the Politecnico di Milano. My research focuses on the diversity of the culture of living with respect to tangible and intangible heritage. Photography has always been a passion of mine – ever since I was three years old I have followed my father’s passion for photography and printing. I always sided my studies and professional research activities in architecture with photography, therefore I found myself working as an architectural/interior/events photographer quite often. But it was with the development of my research in the framework of the spontaneous culture of living that I understood the relevance of photography for my professional and artistic activity.

LC – Which subject are you working on?
CDB – I always have many ongoing projects and ideas, but right now my main projects are Archipelago, on the diversity of the islands of the Mediterranean sea, and my work on the Spontaneous Living Spaces, such as Tides and Capulanas in Mozambique.

LC – Where do you find your inspiration?
CDB – I find my inspiration from my studies and from the need to communicate; to make the research clearer and more beautiful.

LC – What is the most challenging part about creating your artworks?
CDB – I think the relationship with the local community is the main challenge I face. When working in developing nations/contexts, it is not always obvious to be able to communicate with a common language or to understand the local culture that sets the basic rules of interaction. The second challenge is time: you need to be quick. I usually work in streets or in people’s houses, taking advantage of their hospitality, so I need to be quick while looking for and understanding what should be captured.

LC – What is your creative process like?
CDB – My creative process originates from two kinds of opposite approaches. On the one side, there are the studies, books, documents, and maps, and on the other, there is the on-site work with the community that is interviewed and is collaborating with the research. After taking the photographs, the main challenge is to fix the general elaboration of the photographs (I usually don’t manipulate too much the pictures and I always keep the same frame as shot) and create a narration that is clearly understandable, in balance with the research material.

LC – Do you agree with our vision of art and what do you think about the theme of the festival?
CDB – Interesting! Unfortunately, due to the birth of my son, I could not participate personally to meet the other artists!

LC – Can you explain something about the artworks you have in our exhibition?
CDB – It is the cover of Archipelago project that will have its own exhibition in Hamburg at the Italian Cultural Institute that will be inaugurated on December 15th. Everybody is welcome!

LC – Do you think ITSLIQUID GROUP can represent an opportunity for artists?
CDB – Sure it is!

LC – What are your suggestions about our services? Is there something more we can provide to artists?
CDB – More visibility especially on the social and online platforms.