Silvia Camporesi and Luca Marianaccio Photograph Italy's Ex-Asylums at Museo di Storia della Psichiatria
The Museo di Storia della Psichiatria in Reggio Emilia will host the photographic exhibition Manicomi Italici from 27 September 2026 to 6 January 2027. Organized by Musei Civici di Reggio Emilia, the exhibit showcases twenty images—ten by Silvia Camporesi and ten by Luca Marianaccio—culled from a collection of over two hundred photographs. This initiative, published by Quodlibet on 28 October 2026, highlights asylums that were closed following the 1978 Legge Basaglia and has been recognized with the Strategia Fotografia 2025 award. The chosen works will be incorporated into the permanent collections of Musei Civici. The location, within the historic San Lazzaro asylum complex, retains original features and signs of deterioration. Antonio Ligabue resided there from 2 March 1945 to 6 December 1948.
Key facts
- Exhibition Manicomi Italici runs 27 September 2026 to 6 January 2027 at Museo di Storia della Psichiatria, Via Amendola 2, Reggio Emilia.
- The show features twenty photographs—ten each by Silvia Camporesi and Luca Marianaccio—from a corpus of over two hundred images.
- Quodlibet publishes the accompanying volume on 28 October 2026, curated by Cesare Pomarici.
- The project documents Italian asylums closed by the Legge Basaglia of 1978, nearly fifty years later.
- Camporesi and Marianaccio traveled all twenty Italian regions over one year, dividing north and south.
- Manicomi Italici won Strategia Fotografia 2025, promoted by the Direzione Generale Creatività Contemporanea of the Ministero della Cultura.
- The Museo di Storia della Psichiatria occupies the Padiglione Lombroso in the former San Lazzaro asylum complex and opened in 2012.
- Painter Antonio Ligabue was held at San Lazzaro from 2 March 1945 to 6 December 1948.
Entities
Artists
- Silvia Camporesi
- Luca Marianaccio
- Cesare Pomarici
- Franco Basaglia
- Antonio Ligabue
- Livia Montagnoli
Institutions
- Musei Civici di Reggio Emilia
- Museo di Storia della Psichiatria
- Quodlibet
- Strategia Fotografia 2025
- Direzione Generale Creatività Contemporanea
- Ministero della Cultura
- Artribune
Locations
- Reggio Emilia
- Italy
- Forlì
- Castiglion Messer Marino
- San Lazzaro
- Via Amendola, 2