Prada Frames 2026 Symposium Examines Image Power and Cost in Milan

The fifth edition of Prada Frames, curated by Formafantasma, concluded in Milan with a focus on image production as a cultural, political, and material force. Under the theme "In Sight," the symposium challenged the immateriality of digital culture, emphasizing the physical impact of image infrastructure. Speakers included Jonas Staal, who discussed propaganda and Jeff Bezos's mega-yacht Koru, and Alfredo Jaar, who reflected on his Rwanda Project and the ideology within images. The event was held at the Sacrestia della Chiesa di Santa Maria delle Grazie, a Renaissance space attributed to Bramante, near Leonardo da Vinci's Last Supper. Over three days, from Sunday to Tuesday, attendees experienced lectures without visual aids, highlighting a contrast to Milan Design Week's frenetic pace. Key discussions addressed how visual abundance affects truth discernment and the blurred lines between human creation and algorithmic generation. Staal distributed posters from his Redistribute Extinction project, while Jaar reiterated that no image is innocent, drawing from his 1994-2000 work on the Rwandan genocide. Other notable speakers included Paola Antonelli and Hans Ulrich Obrist, contributing to a program that demystified digital immateriality through topics like resource extraction and energy consumption.