In the organizer's words:

The Italian Cultural Institute Cologne presents Come il vento. Italian "Photography of Places", an exhibition project curated by Ralph Goertz, which will be on display at the institute from February 6 to July 3, 2026.

Opening hours:

February 9 - July 3, 2026
Mon.-Thurs. 9.00-13.00 / 13.30-17.00
Fri. 9.00-14.00

Opening: Friday, February 6 at 7.00 pm. In the presence of the curator Ralph Goertz.
With Italian aperitif.
Free admission

The exhibition "Come il vento" is a spin-off from "No Place like Home", the largest survey exhibition of Italian photography since "Viaggio in Italia" from 1984, and presents around 60 works by 10 photographers from Italy who have dealt with the medium of photography in their own individual way and have a special relationship with Guido Guidi, one of the most important representatives of new Italian photography.

"Come il vento" examines the so-called "photography of places", which Guido Guidi, together with Luigi Ghirri, Gabriele Basilico and Olivo Barbieri, established as a new artistic development in Italian photography from the late 1970s and which was reinterpreted by subsequent generations. In this "photography of places", a new group of photographers sought to restore and promote a sense of belonging to their own country and, in particular, to the rural suburbs. In their approach, they focused on viewing photography not only as a means of representation, but as material objects that occupy the spaces we inhabit.

The photographers shown here are united by their intellectual and sensual engagement with the place as a collective memory. Although there was no standardized school of photography at an art academy in Italy, most of the authors shown here studied under Guido Guidi at the Accademia di Bette Arti in Ravenna or the University of Venice. With their clear visual language, they create impressive works full of poetry and reflection, far removed from all the clichés of "Dolce Vita" and "Bella Italia".

Participating photographers: Carmen Colombo, Matteo Di Giovanni, Alessandra Dragoni, Cesare Fabbri, Marcello Galvani, Guido Guidi, Francesca Iovene, Allegra Martin, Francesco Neri and Luca Nostri.

Ralph Goertz (*1970 in Krefeld) studied theater and film studies at the Ruhr University Bochum and cultural management at the Lucerne and Zurich Universities of Art and Design. In 2009, he founded the IKS - Institute for Art Documentation in Düsseldorf and expanded it in 2022 to include its own photography department (IKS Photo). His exhibitions and films have won numerous awards such as "The Nine Best Exhibitions of Summer 2019 in Europe", "Best Exhibition 2020", "Delphic Art Movie Award Berlin" and the "On Art Film Award" in Warsaw. Today, Goertz works as a filmmaker and curator for photography with the Kunsthalle Darmstadt, Kunsthalle Düsseldorf, Kunstpalast, Ludwiggalerie Oberhausen, Clems-Sels Museum Neuss, NRW-Forum Düsseldorf, Haus am Kleistpark, Museum für Fotografie Berlin, Photo Museum Ireland and the Museum for Photography Krakow, among others. His films are represented in the collections of international museums such as Kunstsammlung Nordrhein-Westfalen, Museum of Modern Art New York and Ghetty Museum Los Angeles.