2023-09-27 13:40:55
Terna, the manager of the national electricity grid, has announced the winners of the second edition of the ‘Driving Energy Award – Contemporary Photography’, the free competition, open to all photographers in Italy, aimed at the promotion and cultural development of the country and new industry talents. The best interpreters of the theme of this year’s Award, ‘In Praise of Equilibrium’, are five predominantly female authors: Dione Roach for the Senior Award, Martina Zanin for the Young Award, Beatrice Aiello (Ied – Istituto Europeo di Design, Rome) for the Academy Mention. They are joined by Antonio Vacirca, who won the Amatori Award, and Lorenzo Pipi, whose work was the most voted by Terna people, over 5,600, the ‘largest jury in Italy’. The winning and finalist works are now on display at Palazzo Esposizioni Roma and can be visited, with free access, until Sunday 15 October.
A photographic prize, that of Terna, which is growing more and more as demonstrated by the data that were illustrated today on the occasion of the announcement of the winners. Over 2,800 people, aged 19 to 89, from 107 provinces and all 20 Italian regions participated in the second edition of the ‘Driving Energy Award – Contemporary Photography’. “The notable results of the 2023 Award – underlines the president of Terna, Igor De Biasio – confirm the validity of Terna’s choice to promote a cultural project for the benefit of the country. The quantity and quality of participation are the expression of a clear message: the desire to to all work together for contemporary Italian photography, and to do so with commitment, passion and creativity. And with that dose of courage that is always needed”.
For Terna, he explains, “culture is a national asset but also an economic value. Italy is a cultural symbol in the world and therefore for Terna investing in culture is a natural choice also because in this way it contributes to growing the economy”. Culture, adds De Biasio, “is the most beautiful form of renewable energy and this too must be networked. This is Terna’s way of doing things: networking, connecting and creating a virtuous circle. Photography needs support to regain its centrality and this is what Terna is doing”.
Never before, underlines Giuseppina Di Foggia, CEO and General Manager of Terna, “is it important that citizens and families know that Terna is behind the energy they use every day, with its leading role in the energy transition. The Award Driving Energy is an important tool in this sense: it helps us make what we do well known. And it does so by respecting the criteria and values that guide our activities, also in the cultural sector”.
The Terna Award, underlines Marco Delogu, Curator of the Award and President of Palaexpo, “is becoming increasingly important and a ‘turning point’ in the lives of photographers. Photography must be supported as Terna does and encouraged to recover its centrality in the arts We are at the final stage of the second edition of the Award: the results achieved, not our personal opinions, confirm that the project has achieved its objectives. The Driving Energy Award is undoubtedly an important and recognized event in the sector and a point of reference for the entire community of photographers in Italy”, explains Delogu who remembered Andrea Purgatori, the journalist who passed away on 19 July 2023 and who was a member of the jury: “A man who was very important both in terms of culture and Italian journalism”. His son, Edoardo Purgatori, present at the ceremony, remembered his father: “The theme of the award ‘In praise of balance, a dialogue between the arts’ reminds me of him. He raised us by encouraging us to find a balance between soul, heart and mind It was the compass that he left us. Andrea Purgatori was always in search of the truth and in his career he walked like a tightrope walker, often alone. A journey that he took not for himself but for those who seek the truth” .
The Councilor for Public Works and Infrastructure of the Municipality of Rome, Ornella Segnalini, also remembered Andrea Purgatori and insisted on the importance of the Award. “A beautiful initiative that is growing as demonstrated by the 2,800 participants this year.” The Councilor for Culture, Equal Opportunities and Youth and Family Policies of the Lazio Region, Simona Renata Baldassarre, also expressed satisfaction with the Award: “It is nice to participate in this event which reminds us of the power of the art of culture which is a engine to get everywhere”.
The 5 winning works of the 2023 Prize, which will win prizes for a total of 29,000 euros, and the other 36 finalists, were evaluated by the Curator, Marco Delogu, and by the Jury, of high technical and artistic profile, chaired by Lorenza Bravetta, curator of the photography, cinema and new media sector at La Triennale di Milano, supported by the Presidential Committee of the Award, composed of Igor De Biasio and Giuseppina Di Foggia, respectively President and CEO of Terna. The Governance of the Award also saw at work this year the Honorary Committee made up of the five winners of the 2022 Award (Paolo Ventura, Gaia Renis, Mohamed Keita, Eva Frapiccini and Andrea Botto), which evaluated, with the Jury, the student works to award the Academy Mention.
The 2023 Prize exhibition, created in collaboration with Azienda Speciale Palaexpo, is this year presented in the digital universe in three versions, in order to increase the access points and ways of using the works: Metaverso, new free Pde app ( Driving Energy Award) and virtual tour, accessible from the official website of the Award. The selected works are also published in the photographic volume ‘Driving Energy’, presented as the official catalog of the Award.
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