Montreal – Pink pays tribute to women’s contribution to graphic design and visual culture in Italy, bringing together the stories and work of female graphic designers active in Italy from the 1940s to the present day. It is a period marked by profound changes in Italian society and its cultural landscape, from the economic boom, which brought new products, habits and rituals, to the transition into the digital age, characterised by the growing influence of technology, a crisis of values and continuing uncertainty. The exhibition, which is travelling to cities around the world, will open at the Italian Cultural Institute in Montreal on September 24 and will be open to the public from September 25 to November 5. The opening will feature a lecture by Alessandro Colizzi, associate professor in the Department of Design at Milan Polytechnic. Pink aims to highlight women’s contribution to the evolution and development of the graphic design profession and Italian visual culture. More broadly, it also draws attention to how little recognition many of these women received for creating iconic images, some of which became part of the collective imagination of millions of people. Designers including Anita Klinz, the first Italian female art director, Jeanne Michot Grignani, Brunetta Moretti Mateldi, Lora Lamm, Claudia Morgagni, Simonetta Ferrante and Adelaide Acerbi contributed to Italy’s economic boom and the rise of the “Made in Italy” brand. The 1970s and 1980s were marked by political engagement and public-interest graphic design, with figures such as Elisabetta Ognibene, Elena Green, Patrizia Pataccini and Michela Papadia. The 1990s and 2000s, shaped by the digital revolution and new frontiers in communication, brought new leading figures including Ginette Caron, Cristina Chiappini, Claude Marzotto and Silvana Amato. Amato was the first Italian woman to join AGI, the Alliance Graphique Internationale, an organisation bringing together some of the world’s most influential graphic designers. Laura Viale is also featured, with her iconic Millelire book covers for Stampa Alternativa. Pink is the result of a research and outreach project on women’s contribution to graphic design that Aiap, the Italian Association of Visual Communication Design, has been carrying out for around 20 years. (9colonne)