The Museion in Bolzano now hosts Feedback, a retrospective of works by Franco Vaccari. The exhibition spans his career and marks what would have been his ninetieth birthday. Vaccari, who passed away last December, gained international recognition for his participatory projects. Most notably, his 1972 Venice Biennale installation invited attendees to use a photobooth and pin their portraits to the gallery walls. By the end of the show, 6,000 visitors had contributed to the work, highlighting his focus on real-time public engagement.
Vaccari often occupied a fringe position in the art world, favoring marginal modes of photography and film over traditional styles. The current show at Museion displays his diverse output, including installations, archival material, and books. His work frequently used media to document public behavior. In the 1960s, he filmed graffiti in public toilets, viewing the scrawled messages as found poetry. His later projects included an overnight sleepover environment in Brescia that prompted participants to record their dreams.
One centerpiece of the exhibition is a reconstruction of his 1993 Biennale project, Bar Code. Originally a functional café, the installation invited patrons to sign postcards advocating for the release of Italian activist Silvia Baraldini in exchange for coffee. This piece demonstrates his ability to blend social activism with artistic spaces. The exhibition also features his more personal work, such as the 2003 film titled Provision of Memories for the Advent of Alzheimer’s, which uses home-movie footage to preserve family history.
Throughout his life, Vaccari resisted reliance on sophisticated technique, often choosing low-tech cameras or simple vantage points. His work shifted between blacked-out rooms filled with plastic bags and humorous caricatures of fellow artists. By highlighting the contributions of visitors and documenting the mundane, Vaccari challenged the traditional status of the artist. The exhibition remains on view at Museion through September 13.