ARCHIVO LAB | Visual Artist 2025

LAURA FIORIO

Italy

BIOGRAPHICAL NOTE

Laura Fiorio (1985, Verona, IT) is an artist working with photography, installation and relational practice. Her projects interact with existing archives and materials, questioning the power dynamics embedded in the editing process of images as memories, their instutionalized use and hence their critical and subversive potential. She holds an BA in Performing and Visual Arts (IUAV, Venice), an MA in Art and Social Work (Alice Salomon Hochschule, Berlin) and a Postmaster degree in Decolonizing Architecture (Royal Academy of Fine Arts, Stockholm). Her work has been exhibited at Museum for Contemporary Photography (Milan, IT), Biennale (Venice, IT), CeCuT (Tijuana, MX), HKW (Berlin, DE). She lives and works in Berlin.

Website

LAB PROJECT

© Laura Fiorio

REINVENTARIO

“Reinventario” is a concept that merges "reinvent" and "inventory," focusing on recording memories tied to a location to inspire transformative ideas. The Bormioli glass factory, a key industrial site in Parma's San Leonardo neighborhood, has a rich history linked to the struggles of Italian trade unions in the late 1960s. After being abandoned and privatized, the site was saved from demolition through the efforts of former workers and is now recognized as a heritage building. Plans are underway for a Glass Museum, managed by the ex-workers' union, to serve as a cultural and social integration center. Recovered objects, machinery, and photographical archive materials are stored in a warehouse where former workers gather to organize and inventory these memories. This process of bridging history and heritage inspired a photographic project that examines how memories are institutionalized and who controls their narrative. By engaging with past images and artifacts, the project seeks to restore identity to a neglected area and foster a sense of care for collective memory, allowing it to be reinterpreted for contemporary needs. The factory's remnants, particularly large glass pieces, serve as a narrative device, highlighting how value is perceived through different perspectives.