Chiara Fossati's Rave Photography Exhibition in Catania

The cultural space 2LAB in Catania presents "Libertà," a photography exhibition by Chiara Fossati documenting European rave and free party scenes from 1999 to 2006. The black-and-white analog images capture the innocence of adolescent gaze and the spontaneous freedom of rave culture, now serving as unexpected historical testimony amid recent Italian legislation criminalizing large gatherings. Fossati (born 1984 in Legnano) studied in Florence and London, earned a master's in Photography and Urban Culture, and teaches Contemporary Photography History at IED Milan. Since 2020, she has been a member of Cesura Publish, a photographic collective founded by Magnum Photos photojournalist Alex Majoli. Cesura Publish, which started in a workshop in the Piacenza countryside and now includes seventeen photographers, recently became a publishing house specializing in limited-edition photobooks, including Fossati's first book "WHATEVER." The exhibition, curated by 2LAB, predates the political debates but coincidentally becomes a protest manifesto against the condemnation of rave culture. The Italian Council of Ministers approved a decree on October 31 making it illegal for more than fifty people to occupy land or buildings.