MIPphest — Matera International Photography Festival

Matera Through the Lens

MIPphest, the Matera International Photography Festival, is the event that transforms the city each year into a large, widespread gallery dedicated to photography and contemporary imagery. It is promoted by the MIP - Matera International Photography association, a Matera-based entity entirely devoted to the training and dissemination of photographic culture, which spreads exhibitions across prestigious spaces such as the Galleria Arti Visive, Palazzo Lanfranchi, and other symbolic locations in the Sassi.

Exhibitions, Artists, and Research

The festival's program alternates between major solo exhibitions, collective projects, and research pathways, featuring Italian and international artists. Reportage, documentary photography, landscape, and experimental languages intertwine in a calendar that spans several months, offering the public diverse interpretations of the relationship between image, territory, and identity.

A Festival Spread Through the Heart of the Sassi

The strength of MIPphest lies in the relationship between the works and the locations: the halls of historic palaces, galleries, and exhibition spaces in the city become the backdrop for exhibitions that dialogue with Matera's layered history. In its tenth-anniversary edition, the festival accompanies the city throughout its year as Mediterranean Capital of Culture and Dialogue, with a particular focus on the themes of borders, horizons, and the Mediterranean.

Training and Community

In addition to exhibitions, MIP carries out intense photographic training activities and engages the local community, including through projects with local youth. In collaboration with the Municipality of Matera and city museums, MIPphest consolidates the city's role as an international crossroads for imagery.