Upcoming exhibition: Francesca Cirilli – Durchgangsland-Terradipassaggio

Francesca Cirilli – Durchgansgland-Terradipassaggio, Exhibition by Foto Forum, Bolzano/Bozen (Italy), 2025

Durchgangsland–Terradipassaggio is the solo exhibition by the artist Francesca Cirilli, marking the conclusion of three residency periods conceived by curator Stefano Riba and organized by Foto Forum, which took place in the municipality of Fortezza throughout 2024.

The geographical context depicted in Cirilli’s images, along with Riba’s textual analysis — featured in a self-published booklet presented during the exhibition — is encapsulated within the 15-kilometer stretch of the SS12 (the Abetone and Brenner State Road) between Fortezza and Mules. Along this short section, an exceptionally high density of traces narrates the ancient, modern, and contemporary history of a territory shaped by the construction of major infrastructural works, built with foreign labor.

Starting from the construction site of the Brenner Base Tunnel (whose main hub is located in Mules) and the temporary workers’ villages (in Fortezza, Sachsenklemme, and Mules), the project unfolds into a narrative that intertweaves multiple historical, geological, and social layers. Within Cirilli’s images and Riba’s text reflect on the elements, such as: the Roman stele of the god Mithras and the remains of an ancient Roman road; the Periadriatic Seam (a tectonic division between the European and African plates) and the historical boundary between “Italic” and “foreign” lands; the construction of the world’s longest railway tunnel, the 19th-century fortress and railway, a 100-year-old artificial lake, and the highway built in the 1970s.

Francesca Cirilli – Durchgansgland-Terradipassaggio, Exhibition by Foto Forum, Bolzano/Bozen (Italy), 2025

The exhibition path of Durchgangsland–Terradipassaggio presents and narrates the human, architectural, and infrastructural traces that symbolize conflicting forces and different eras within this territory. In Fortezza ans Mules, monumental structures — the fortress, the railway, the highway, and now the BBT — contrast to the dynamic flow of people and goods, as well as with the temporary communities of workers.

The key focus of the exhibition is on temporary workers’ villages and the labour force of the Brenner Base Tunnel (BBT). The tunnel construction site itself is also an essential part of the project, but rather than emphasizing the sheer scale of the infrastructure, Cirilli is interested in the stories of people and how they shape the spaces they live and work in. Moreover, great attention is given to the representation of the natural environment, where built structures create (or carve out) enclosed spaces that stand in contrast to the Alpine landscape and its open spaces.

In general, both the exhibition and the accompanying textual exploration aim to stimulate reflection on the transformations of the territory in relation to the historical, cultural, environmental, and social factors that have shaped the past and continue to define the present and the future.

Special thanks for their collaboration to: BBT SE, the BTC consortium, the Municipality of Fortezza-Franzensfeste, the Provincial Museum Forte di Fortezza, the South Tyrol Archaeological Museum, Salto.bz, Fortezza Open Archive (Brave New Alps), and all the workers encountered during the project.

Francesca Cirilli – Durchgansgland-Terradipassaggio, Exhibition by Foto Forum, Bolzano/Bozen (Italy), 2025

Francesca Cirilli is a photographer, curator, and educator. Her works have been exhibited in museums, galleries, and photography festivals in Italy and abroad, including La Triennale Milano, Musei Reali Torino, Cinisello Balsamo Museum of Contemporary Photography, OMNEFEST Castelfranco Veneto, Photolux Festival Lucca, Muse Trento, Zoma Museum Addis Ababa, Athens Photo Festival, CAMERA Torino, Fotografia Europea, Circulation(s) Paris, and Warsaw Photo Festival. As a freelance photographer, she collaborates with institutions, artistic and cultural organizations, non-profits, and public institutions. She is a co-founder and curator of JEST, an independent space promoting contemporary photography in Turin through exhibitions, residencies, projects, and educational activities. Since 2012, she has been teaching at various academies and schools (IED Torino, Centro Sperimentale di Cinematografia – Piemonte branch, Accademia d’Arte Novalia) and in various other projects.
She holds a degree in Contemporary History from the University of Pisa and a degree in Photography from IED Torino. She is currently completing a Master’s in Visual Arts at the University of Bologna.