On the occasion of the fourth edition of Desina, the Festival of Graphic Design and Visual Cultures, AIAP CDPG, with Desina and the Academy of Fine Arts of Naples (ABANA), co-curated the exhibition Resistenze. La grafica prende Posizione (Resistances. Graphic Design Takes a Stand), hosted in the evocative setting of La Santissima Community Hub in Naples (9–12 April 2026).
The term Resistance has been interpreted broadly: from the partisan movement that contributed to Italy’s liberation from Nazi-fascism more than 80 years ago – present with a large, multicolored flag (designed by Lodovico Gualzetti, and created by Elena Giunta with the women of the Skartoria cooperative in Sondrio), a reminder of their diverse political affiliations – to other more or less spontaneous, more or less organized forms of opposition to abuse, injustice, and oppressive policies. Graphic design, therefore, is seen as a tool of resistance, if not a political act, even when it serves as a spokesperson or translator through communicative forms and rhetoric of messages, ideas, and issues that are, or should be, of public interest.
The exhibition, through its series of specific episodes, aimed to demonstrate how visual discourse is an integral part of social discourse. From the posters of the protest movements of the late 1960s to those dedicated to April 25th and May 1st; from the series No alla Civiltà. Se questa è civiltà (No to Civilization. If This Is Civilization) created by Ilio Negri (exhibited on the centenary of his birth), to a selection of books, magazines, and records whose common thread was that of various forms of resistance.
Created with a significant contribution of materials from the funds of AIAP CDPG – Graphic Design Documentation Center of AIAP, it has been enriched by loans of originals and reproductions from the Academy of Fine Arts of Naples (ABANA), the ISEC Foundation, the Archivio del Lavoro and the Ferruccio Parri National Institute.
At Resistances. Graphic Design Takes a Stand, projects by Vincenzo Bergamene, Franco Canale, Mimmo Castellano, Annamaria Contenti, Silvio Coppola, Lica Covo Steiner, Luciano Ferro, Pierluigi Cerri, Giulio Confalonieri, Massimo Dolcini, Graciela Ana Galvani, Giancarlo Gemo, Studio Gravina, Max Huber, Giancarlo Iliprandi, Giovanni Lussu, Roberto Maderna, Bruno Magno, Armando Milani, Andrea Miola, Ennio Morlotti, Ilio Negri, Bob Noorda, Franco Origoni, Romano Perusini, Mario Piazza, Michele Provinciali, Andrea Rauch, Stefano Rovai, Sergio Ruffolo, Albe Steiner, Anna Steiner, Antonio Tubaro, Daniele Turchi, Luigi Veronesi, Ettore Vitale, and Michelangelo Zeni were exhibited, among others.
