The IGVFest in Milan, Italy, 12-14 July 2008.
The IGVFest occupying the billboard of Corso Como in Milan during the 2008 edition of the festival. In collaboration with Intelligent Alternative, Beijing. Artist: Zhao Bandi, Bandi Panda Fashion Show, 2008. Photo: Spela Zidar
Projection on the facade of fashion boutique in Corso Como. Artist: Marco Villani, Readymade Life 1, 2007. Photo: Spela Zidar
'Corso Como' in Milan is a small street situated near Isola and Chinatown neighborhoods. It became well known for a single boutique whose influence soon brought other high-end fashion stores and a slew of restaurants that serve customers in outdoor seating occupying public space in the middle of the pedestrian street.
The newly forming 'Chinatown' in Milan has increasingly become a site of tension and open conflict between recent arrivals and the existing social landscape. The two artists explore the similar agriculture origins of the conflicting residents and their contemporary intersections. Artist: Francesca Montà & Marthe Van Dessel, Rice, 2007. Photo: Elisa Marchesini.
The area around Via Paolo Sarpi has recently been settled by the Chinese immigrant community of Milan. The main trade has been in wholesale distribution, with many of the small storefronts brimming with fashion and other imported goods. The influx of foreigners and the constant traffic due to the shops has created friction with the other residents of the neighborhood. Appealing to the city, an obscure traffic law regarding the loading and unloading of goods began to be enforced angering the merchants. In April 2007 a riot broke out after police had fined a local Chinese shop owner culminating in a number of injuries, arrests, and destruction of property as the group of Chinese immigrants attempted to march to the city center to protest the discrimination. This area is indicative of migration trends elsewhere and the consequences of the confrontation with the other that can oscillate between hybridity and conflict.
IGVFest video projection occupying a building in Milan. Artist: Qiu Jun, Peach Blossum Garden, 2007. Photo: Spela Zidar.
An area of Milan undergoing radical social transformation this building houses the last squat with many musicians and artists. In concert with the residents the festival intervened on the building that has been appropriated by its occupants for over a decade. Artist: Raphael Cooper and Li Qiu QIu (Society Skateboards / Beijing Hip-hop Experience), The Peoples' Skateboards, 2007. Photo: Sarah Vanhee.
A view of local permutation of a broader global culture and the alternative realities forming in Asia in collaboration with Intelligent Alternative, Beijing. Artists: Raphael Cooper and Li Qiu QIu (Society Skateboards / Beijing Hip-hop Experience), The Peoples' Skateboards, 2007. Photo: Sarah Vanhee
Documentation of urban interventions in New York on commercial media in public space. Artists: Anti-Advertising Agency and Graffiti Research Lab, Light Criticism, 2007. Photo: Spela Zidar.
