For the first time, Gallerie d’Italia becomes a space of discovery for students from the IED Photography courses in Turin, Milan, and Rome—a unique opportunity for them to share and reflect on the perspectives of their generation. Twenty-one young photographers present the results of intense personal research, offering the public a raw and multifaceted portrait of youth today. Through the language of photography, they move beyond superficial narratives to explore the complexities, vulnerabilities, and aspirations of their peers. With full freedom in their choice of themes and forms of expression, the artists navigate a wide range of subjects through their own lens, offering a candid and layered look at contemporary youth.

Their stories touch on transformation, emotional expression, everyday rituals, and quiet yet powerful social dynamics: moments that, while seemingly ordinary, reveal their vision of the world, without losing sight of their insecurities and aspirations. Amidst memory, bodies, freedom, and transformations, each image contributes to a choral and complex narrative of our youngest “dreamers”. Who are these twenty-year-olds? What are the contexts in which they live? Who are the people around them? What are the anxieties, fears, but also the desires that drive them forward? In search for answers to these questions, and to raise new ones, we embraced the idea of a dynamic and interactive portfolio reading to promote dialogue between the artists and the audience. Central to this experience is the table, which accommodates the images: a familiar presence in our homes, studios, and workplaces, the table becomes a focal point of daily life: a place for discussion, exchange, and sharing. Here, it transforms into a symbol of encounter, a platform for presenting one’s work, and a space for informal yet empathetic collective reflection.

Each portfolio, presented in a box carefully designed by Visual Communication Design students at IED Firenze, becomes a unit that, once opened, takes part in a physical process of exchange and comparison. Not only are the students encouraged to show their work to the lecturers, but they are also invited to move through the space, interpret it, and ask questions. The aim is to stimulate a shared dialogue that evolves over time, engaging the various senses of those who, whether experts or curious observers, actively participate in this performance by wandering freely between the tables.

The Dreamers is an archive in constant evolution: a living, breathing testament to the creative perspectives of new generations, designed to grow over time through the interaction of those who create, those who observe, those who listen, and those who engage.