WEST is a research project that investigates the origins of the current crisis of the liberal model and, more generally, of the West in an arc between the beginning of the Gold Rush (1848) and the bankruptcy of Lehman Brothers (2008). Begun in 2014, WEST consists of three long journeys through some of the states where the Gold Rush took place-California, Nevada, Utah, Wyoming, Arizona, Colorado, New Mexico, Nebraska, Texas, with the inclusion of contiguous Mexican areas.
The focus of the entire work is at the crossroads between the particular geology of this region (one of the oldest geological structures on the planet) and the archaeological ruins (mines, ghost towns, utopias, complexes and abandoned infrastructures) of this season driven by an irrepressible quest for immediate wealth.
Curated by Matteo Balduzzi
Realized with the support of the Italian Ministry of Culture, WEST has been selected among the winners of the X edition of the Italian Council (2021) a program for the international promotion of Italian art of the Directorate- Generale for Contemporary Creativity of the Ministry of Culture.
The project is presented by the Museum of Contemporary Photography of Milan Cinisello (MUFOCO) with the Gallery Le Château d'Eau, in collaboration with the architecture center Arc en rêve of Bordeaux.