The Magazzino delle Idee in Trieste presents from 21 September the exhibition L’Italia e l’Alliance Graphique Internationale. 25 graphic designers of the 20th century, organised by ERPAC, the Regional Agency for the Cultural Heritage of Friuli Venezia Giulia and curated by Carlo Vinti. The exhibition is dedicated to 25 Italian professionals belonging to the Alliance Graphique Internationale, the association that has brought together the world’s most important professionals since 1951: through their works, the exhibition offers a cross-section of the history of Italian graphics in the second half of the 20th century.

The exhibition was created on the occasion of the 70th AGI Congress, which this year will be held in Trieste (19 – 23 September 2022) organised by an Italian AGI team led by Paolo Tassinari.

The twenty-five authors in the exhibition, whose cultural and professional roots go back to the last century, are among the leading exponents of Italian graphics and international design: Franco Balan, Walter Ballmer, Franco Bassi, Egidio Bonfante, Erberto Carboni, Eugenio Carmi, Mimmo Castellano, Pierluigi Cerri, Giulio Cittato, Giulio Confalonieri, Silvio Coppola, Germano Facetti , Franco Gri-gnani, Italo Lupi, Emanuele Luzzati, Riccardo Manzi, Armando Milani, Bruno Munari, Bob Noorda, Giovanni Pintori, Pino Tovaglia, Roberto Sambonet, Albe Steiner, Pierpaolo Vetta, Heinz Waibl.

On display are over 200 works including posters, advertisements, editorial products and other printed matter together with some sketches and design sketches, correspondence between AGI members and documents relating to the life of the association.

Each author is presented in a dedicated section through some of the most significant works created between the beginning of the 1950s and the end of the century for museums, theatres, publishing houses and well-known companies such as Barilla, Campari, Coop, Olivetti, Pirelli and Pure Virgin Wool. A visual and aesthetic heritage that has entered into the everyday life of Italians that many will remember.

The materials were made available by numerous lenders: AIAP CDPG. Centro di Documentazione sul Progetto Grafico; Associazione Archivio Storico Olivetti; Archivio Albe e Lica Steiner – Politecnico di Milano; CASVA – Centro di Alti Studi sulle Arti Visive; Fondazione Fiera Milano; Fondazione Isec; Fondazione Napoli Novantanove; Fondazione Pirelli; Archivio Storico Barilla; Galleria Campari; Casa Luzzati Foundation; Eugenio Carmi Archive; Pino Tovaglia Archive; Atelier Balan; Manuela Grignani; Francesco Nicoletti; Catharin Noorda; Giorgio Camuffo; Studio Pierluigi Cerri; Armando Milani; Italo Lupi; Tassinari/Vetta, Tipoteca Italiana Foundation, Triennale Milano – Archives.

The Alliance Graphique Internationale (AGI) was founded in 1951 by an initial group of two Swiss and three French graphic designers. The following year it already included 65 European members, including four Italians. Today it brings together 507 members from 46 different countries. Its mission is to promote graphic design through conferences, publications and educational activities.

The exhibition is accompanied by a bilingual (Italian and English) catalogue published by Corraini Edizioni, and is sponsored by the AIAP CDPG, the Italian Visual Communication Design Association, and the Olivetti Historical Archives Association.