CRAF – Centro di Ricerca e Archiviazione della Fotografia

The CRAF, Centre for Photographic Research and Archiving, preserves photographic collections associated with Spilimbergo and the wider region. Its Palazzo Tadea seat connects the town's historic architecture with the study of a modern visual medium.

Why it matters

Established in 1993, the centre developed from photographic initiatives begun in the 1980s. Negatives, prints and associated archives provide evidence for the history of photography as both an artistic practice and a record of social life.

What to notice

The holdings include archives associated with Luigi Crocenzi, Toni Nicolini, Aldo Beltrame and Carlo Bevilacqua. Part of the archive and library of Milan's Galleria Il Diaframma adds a connection with the history of photographic exhibition. These different bodies of material allow individual images to be understood alongside the work and context of their makers.

Context and history

Spilimbergo's photographic culture includes the Gruppo Friulano per una Nuova Fotografia, founded in 1955. Exhibitions in 1987 helped develop the initiatives inherited by the CRAF. Palazzo Tadea was added as a seat in 2009, alongside the institution's earlier connection with Villa Ciani at Lestans, in the municipality of Sequals.