Edicola 518: Perugia's Independent Magazine Kiosk Revolution

In Perugia, the collective behind Emergenze magazine—Antonio Brizioli, Antonio Cipriani, Valentina Montisci, and Kristina Borg—transitioned from publishing five issues of the art/editorial project to founding Edicola 518 in June 2016. Located at via Sant'Ercolano 42a, the kiosk was purchased with proceeds from the magazine and named after the distributor's internal code for the stand. Edicola 518 sells independent magazines, artist books, fanzines, and anarchic writings, focusing on Italian and international independent publishing. It also hosts public events with figures like journalist Giulietto Chiesa, psychiatrist Piero Cipriano, singer Pierpaolo Capovilla, calligraphers Luca Barcellona and James Clough, and others. The project critiques Italy's distribution monopoly and lack of infrastructure for small publishers, refusing to work with large distributors. In Venice, a spin-off called MAGWALL opened at Declare, a leather accessories store in San Polo, offering a curated wall of titles. The collective participates in fairs like FLAT in Turin and Printville at Arte Fiera in Bologna, highlighting the vitality of independent publishing. The article, by Marco Enrico Giacomelli, was published in Artribune Magazine #42.