Shortlisted Artist for the Charta Award 2025

“Reinventario is a neologism I created by combining the words “reinvent” and “inventory.” It refers to the act of recording memories connected to a place in order to generate ideas that can help transform it. The Bormioli glass factory was one of the industrial hubs around which Parma’s San Leonardo neighborhood developed in the 19th century. After the factory went bankrupt in the 2000s, it was acquired by the Municipality but left abandoned, and later privatized for the construction of residential and commercial buildings. The site’s industrial heritage was saved from demolition thanks to the efforts of former workers, who succeeded in having the building recognized as a heritage site worthy of preservation and restoration. These ex-workers also advocated for the creation of a socio-cultural center on the site—including a glass museum and community spaces—to serve as a cultural and social hub for the district. This is where Reinventario comes in. It began in 2021 as part of a photography campaign promoted by the Museum of Contemporary Photography, which invited photographers to explore areas of the city undergoing change. The project continued independently through regular visits to the former factory site, community outreach, and archival research in both institutional and grassroots archives (CSAC and Centro Studi Movimenti). Developed in the space between a site’s history and its ongoing transformation, Reinventario refects on how historical memory is institutionalized—and reveals the actors involved in this process.

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