Gabriele Basilico Prize

Michele Borzoni is the winner of the third edition of Gabriele Basilico Prize.

Thanks to the grant Michele Borzoni will be able to produce a new project that will become a book and and exhibition.

The project aims to explore two industrial regions of old Europe. Nord-Pas de Calais and the north-east of England.Until the early 21st century, these areas were the driving heart of Western European economies. 
Heavy industry, steel plants and coal mines, have created wealth for many generations.The European Rust Belt runs from York to the Lincolnshire in England. From Dunkirk to Lille and the Loire region in France.However, with the coming of globalization and relocation the working class, once progressive, have moved to the right, towards sovereign and populist ideologies. 
The Conservatives won swathes of long-held Labour seats where support for Leave was high in the UK. While the provinces in the north-east of Paris have become the stronghold of extreme right parties. The project intends to document the transformations of the industrial landscape but also the social, political and cultural changes that have followed. Industrial districts, working class neighborhoods and the decline of the unions, will be at the centre of this investigation. Landscapes and portraits will be photographed in color, medium format. In the book and the exhibition there will be no distinction between the two industrial areas, while common aspects such as the decline of manufacturing and the radicalization of sovereign ideologies will be highlighted.