A future for Bagnoli: the INDUSTRIAL S.I.N. exhibition at the European Parliament

Brussels – Environmental justice, industrial heritage, and a just ecological transition. These are the themes of “INDUSTRIAL S.I.N”, the photographic exhibition dedicated to Bagnoli, a neighbourhood in Naples, where the dismantling of the Italsider steelworks had a devastating impact. The exhibition opened yesterday (14 July) at the European Parliament, where it will remain until tomorrow (16 July), bringing to Brussels the story of an area deeply scarred by industrial development, environmental contamination, and decades of delayed remediation work. 

The photographs by artists Ernesto Rollando and Dimitri D’Ippolito were taken in parallel with the documentary film “Flegrea, un futuro per Bagnoli”, directed by Stefano Romano and produced by Nitida Environment and Zenith. The film tells the story of Bagnoli, caught between the beauty of the Phlegraean coast and the ruins of the former Italsider site. Here, two brothers spend the days of their final summer as teenagers. Having grown up there, they know that when the summer comes to an end, they will have to make a choice shared by so many of their peers: to stay in Bagnoli, or to leave in search of a future elsewhere. 

The event was organised by the Greens’ MEP, Benedetta Scuderi, who emphasised that the story of Bagnoli “is one from which we must learn, because industrialisation must be carried out in the right way,” by applying the “polluter pays” principle. In addition to the photographers and the director, the event was attended by Green MEPs Virginijus Sinkevičius and Sara Matthieu, as well as the director of the European Commission’s Directorate-General for the Environment, Ion Codescu.

The event provided an opportunity to reflect on how environmental policies and European industrial policies can better support European citizens living in areas affected by industrial pollution, such as that caused by Italsider. Following the opening of the exhibition at the European Parliament, the film was screened in the Saint Gilles district of Brussels, at the premises of Casi-uo, an association that has been working on migration issues since 1971. “This is the story of a community that refuses to give up,” the director emphasised.