Franco Biagioni's Painted Archive of Recent History

Italian painter Franco Biagioni (born Iesi, 1952; lives in Cuneo) has spent nearly two decades creating a 'Painted Archive of Memory' using a popular aesthetic borrowed from traditional votive painting. His small oil-on-wood tablets depict recent historical events and personal memories, blending the devotion of an archivist with the storytelling of a cantastorie. The project began spontaneously in the early 2000s after Biagioni's crisis of artistic identity, inspired by the essential representation of ex-votos. His first tablet commemorated the Ustica massacre. The archive is not for sale; Biagioni seeks a permanent home for it. He also created the 'Santuario Mobile,' a mobile shrine on wheels to exhibit outside institutions, and 'Archeologia Domestica,' a collection of forgotten objects donated by others, now about 800 pieces.