On Tuesday, July 2, 2026 RUINS – Rovine e Macerie, the solo exhibition by photographer, art historian, and archivist Lidia Giusto, opened with significant public participation at the Forte Santa Tecla, a historical landmark of Sanremo.
The exhibition brings together a selection of photographs taken over more than twenty years of research intoindustrial archaeology, over a long journey spanning Liguria,Italy , and numerous Europeancountries. Abandoned factories, mines, steel mills, chemical plants, infrastructure, and industrial architecture become the starting point for a reflection on time, memory , and the profound transformations that have shaped contemporary landscapes.
Numerous photography enthusiasts, scholars, cultural professionals, and members of the public attended the opening, visiting an exhibition that, through the language of black and white photography, offers an interpretation of industrial heritage going beyond a mere documentation of decay. The photographs reveal what continues to live on beyond abandonment: the traces of labor, communities , and the economic and social events that have shaped the landscape. Factories and landscapes appear as places suspended in time, still capable of engaging with the present and challenging those who observe them.
During the opening, Lidia Giusto retraced the stages of a research project that began over twenty years ago and continues to evolve, emphasizing how photography represents, first and foremost, an act of responsibility. "Photography means building memory, asking questions , and helping to imagine the future,” explained the artist, noting that industrial heritage does not belong solely to the past but constitutes a fundamental cultural resource for understanding the present and guiding future transformations. “Ruins are not places that no longer exist: they are places that continue to pose questions to us. It is up to us to decide whether to listen to them.”
An important part of the exhibition is dedicated to Val Bormida and Ferrania, areas that have long been at the heart of Lidia's research and that constitute symbolic places ofItalian industrial archaeology. Their images engage in a dialogue with photographs taken in other European contexts, constructing a geography of memory that transcends local boundaries and offers a broader reflection on contemporary industrial heritage.
The exhibition is enriched by an analog projection installation that restores the slide to its original dimension: that of light, matter , and time. At the center of the space, a vintage projector continuously displays a selection of slides created by the artist throughout her research. The rhythm of the projection, punctuated by the device's characteristic click, becomes an integral part of the work, transforming the projector itself into a narrative element and creating a constantly evolving visual archive. The choice of analog media is not nostalgia, but a precise choice of language inviting the visitor to slow down and experience a different pace of viewing.
The exhibition experience is further enriched by a site-specific original soundscape composed by sound designer Luca Mori, conceived as an integral part of the exhibition. Photography, light, and sound interact with one another , giving life to an immersive narrative dedicated to the memory of these places and the industrial landscape.
The opening evening also featured a live performance by Stefano Bertoli, musician and sound researcher active in electronic experimentation, who created a site-specific improvisation designed specifically for the occasion. The performance established a real-time dialogue with the spaces of the Forte Santa Tecla and the images of RUINS, offering the audience a constantly evolving sound experience, perfectly in tune with the themes of memory, time, and stratification that characterize the entire project.
RUINS – Rovine e Macerie represents one of the main strands of Lidia Giusto's artistic research; for years, she has been committed to the study, documentation , and promotion of industrial heritage. The exhibition also serves as an important preview of the cultural project the artist is developing through the Ferrania Film Festival, the new international festival dedicated to analog film, due to take place in Val Bormida from September 11 to 13, 2026.
The RUINS – Rovine e Macerie exhibition will be open to visitors at Forte Santa Tecla in Sanremo until August 30, 2026, from Thursday to Sunday from 5:30 PM to 11:30 PM. Last admission is 30 minutes before closing time.
— Lidia Giusto, storica dell’arte, fotografa, archivista, presidente dell’Associazione Ferrania Film e direttrice artistica del Ferrania Film Festival
