From July 24 to October 18, 2026, the halls of the Cantine del Forte di Bard will host Mario Dondero. “Unpublished Works: The Archive of a Humanist, ” an exhibition curated by Claudio Composti, presents for the first time a collection of previously unpublished photographs drawn from the archive of Mario Dondero (Genoa, 1928 – Fermo, 2015). The exhibition brings together images that have never been published or exhibited, identified by the curator during a visit to the archive two years ago, offering a glimpse into the photographer’s work spanning over half a century of history.
The exhibition offers a journey built around materials that have remained out of the public eye until now. Dondero, known as a photojournalist and witness to the 20th century, began his involvement in the Resistance as a partisan in the Val d’Ossola at a very young age. After the war, he worked in the Italian political press, collaborating with publications such as *Lavoro Nuovo*, *Avanti!*,*l’Unità*, and *Le Ore*, before devoting himself to photography. Throughout his career, he documented numerous international contexts, traveling across Europe, Africa, Latin America, the Middle East, and Asia.
His photographic work focuses on people and situations that shaped the history of the 20th century, often highlighting figures on the margins of the official narrative. Workers, refugees, and ordinary citizens coexist in his archive alongside intellectuals and artists such as Sartre, Beckett, Giacometti, and Pasolini, portrayed without a celebratory tone and shown within the context of their daily lives.
The exhibition project takes shape from Dondero’s archive, largely preserved at the Provincial Photo Library of Fermo in Altidona. This collection consists of hundreds of thousands of images, including black-and-white negatives, slides, and professional prints, accompanied by over two hundred notebooks of notes. Many of the vintage prints selected for the exhibition bear handwritten notes on the back with dates, descriptions of events, titles, and signatures. These materials bear witness to the constant connection Dondero maintained between photography and writing, activities he pursued in parallel throughout his career. The notebooks, in fact, contain observations, reflections, stories, and notes that accompany his photographic work.
“Photographers usually don’t write or even speak. They are like fish, silent too in the vast, silent sea,” Dondero noted in one of his notebooks.
Curator Claudio Composti has organized the exhibition into three thematic sections. *Memories of the Present* brings together images dedicated to demonstrations and collective social movements. *Political Perspectives* is devoted to the key figures of 20th-century political history. Toward the World, on the other hand, presents photographs dedicated to daily life, ordinary gestures, and the people encountered during the photographer’s travels to various countries. Through these three sections, the exhibition traces decades of work and different geographical contexts, highlighting the continuity of Dondero’s approach.
Among the subjects documented are events and contexts that shaped the history of the latter half of the 20th century. From the famous group photograph of the Nouveau Roman writers in front of the Éditions de Minuit headquarters in 1959—featuring Robbe-Grillet, Sarraute, Butor, Beckett, and Simon, to Greece under the military junta, Franco’s Spain, the African liberation movements, the Berlin Wall, and post-Soviet Russia, the photographer’s work spans some of the major international political scenes without resorting to a sensationalized portrayal of events.
“I am interested in everything that shapes our lives. Photography is a formidable tool in the search for truth. I hope that my photographs, driven by empathy, successfully capture the spirit of places and the profound humanity of people,” Dondero wrote.
The exhibition also highlights the value of the archive as a research tool. The previously unpublished photographs are presented as documents that can be reinterpreted in the present. The project also echoes Walter Benjamin’s reflections on the meaning of images, emphasizing how their value is renewed when they are viewed in a historical context different from that of their creation.
The exhibition is part of the archive reorganization effort promoted by the Provincial Photo Library of Fermo, thanks to the work of director Pacifico D’Ercoli and Laura Strappa, the photographer’s last life partner. This initiative has led to the organization and promotion of a documentary heritage that today contributes to a new interpretation of Dondero’s work within the context of the European history of political photojournalism. Through the presentation of previously unpublished materials, the exhibition at the Forte di Bard thus offers an opportunity to explore an archive that continues to reveal new insights into the work of one of the leading Italian photographers of the 20th century.
Hours: Tuesday through Friday 10:00 a.m. – 6:00 p.m.; Saturday, Sunday, and holidays 10:00 a.m. – 7:00 p.m.; Closed Mondays
Admission*: Full price : 15.00 euros. Reduced price: 12.00
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| The Bard Fortress is exhibiting previously unpublished works by Mario Dondero from the photographer's archive |
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