In progress: 24/07/2026 – 18/10/2026
Mario Dondero. Inediti. The Archive of a partisan for humanity is the title of the photography exhibition curated by Claudio Composti, on display at the Forte di Bard from July 24 to October 18, 2026. The exhibition reveals for the first time a body of previously unpublished photographs from the archive of Mario Dondero (Genoa 1928 – Fermo 2015), a great photojournalist and civil witness of the 20th century. These shots, never before published or exhibited, offer the public a radical, anti-rhetorical, and deeply human gaze that spanned half a century of History.
The exhibition is divided into three macro-thematic sections: Memories of the Present, dedicated to protests and collective social movements; Political Glances, focusing on the protagonists of 20th-century political history; Towards the World, a tribute to daily life, gestures, and the lives of the marginalized and simple people encountered in every corner of the planet. It is a journey that crosses decades and geographies yet reveals a consistent narrative: photography as a moral choice.
Mario Dondero was not just a photojournalist: he was a witness who chose which side to take. A partisan in the Val d’Ossola, then a militant chronicler in the post-war Italian political press—from Lavoro Nuovo to Avanti!, and from l’Unità to Le Ore as a reporter—and finally a photographer of the world. His gaze stemmed from a profound love for human beings: those living on the margins, those passing through History without writing it, and those who suffer its consequences rather than governing its shapes.
photo © Archivio Mario Dondero
