“Useless Photographs, a Cycle-Distributed Photographic Archive” is the artistic project by Luca Bortolato, curated by Federica Arcoraci, which will travel across Italy on a vintage bicycle to give new value to forgotten old photos from family albums.

The itinerant artistic project, sponsored by the Municipality of Padua, will create a journey based on slowness and observation, hosted in various art venues.

The photographs collected by the artist, as well as the bicycle used for the journey, are objects from the past that will acquire a new life along the way, thanks to encounters with the public, with whom Luca will engage at each stop.

Bortolato will involve the audience through a performative action: participants can choose one of the “useless photographs,” which the artist will then sign and stamp with the location and date of the event. Through this dual act of choice (by the audience) and gift (by the artist), the image will be revitalized, giving new value to the photograph.

The no-longer “useless” photographs will thus gain new life, and the archive will take on an active role, reaching its fullest expression through movement and its nomadic nature.

The journey will last three months, covering 4,600 km, with stops at museums, cultural associations, and art galleries across Italy.

The itinerant project will start from Verona on April 19 and visit many Italian regions: Veneto, Emilia Romagna, Marche, Puglia, Calabria, Sicily, Sardinia, Campania, Lazio, Tuscany, Liguria, Piedmont, Lombardy, before returning to Verona, where it began.