PhMuseum has announced the launch of Photobook Mania, a new biennial festival dedicated to celebrating the art of photobook publishing. The inaugural event will take place on October 18-19, 2025, at Serra Madre, located inside Serre dei Giardini Margherita in Bologna, Italy. With free admission for all attendees, the festival aims to establish itself as an international hub for independent photographic publishing.

The two-day festival will bring together more than twenty publishers from around the world, showcasing a diverse selection of publications that highlight the latest trends and experimental approaches in the photobook industry. This new biennial event is part of PhMuseum's expanded programming calendar, alternating with the PhMuseum Days festival, which has also transitioned to a biennial format and is scheduled for autumn 2026. This strategic shift demonstrates PhMuseum's strengthened commitment to promoting all aspects of contemporary photographic culture.

Photobook Mania's comprehensive program will feature over forty talks with artists, curators, and industry professionals, along with specialized thematic workshops. The festival will also host two major exhibitions that showcase different aspects of photobook creation and development. The first exhibition, titled "Dummies and Books from FOLIO 2024/25 Photobook Making Masterclass," will present photobook dummies created during the fifth edition of the masterclass focused on book prototype production.

This exhibition offers visitors an in-depth exploration of the creative process behind transforming photographic images into coherent and engaging narratives within the physical format of a book. Over an eight-month period, fourteen participants worked under the expert guidance of Lewis Chaplin, co-founder of Loose Joints, to develop and refine their projects in preparation for publication. The exhibition demonstrates the creative potential of editorial storytelling and the technical aspects of photobook design.

The second major exhibition centers on the PhMuseum 2025 Photobook Award, a new initiative launched in collaboration with MPB, Europe's leading camera retailer. This exhibition will showcase thirty photobook projects that were submitted through the first open call for PhMuseum's new grant program dedicated to visual publishing. A distinguished jury panel consisting of Max Pinckers, Yumi Goto, Karla Hiraldo-Voleau, Giuseppe Oliverio, and Camilla Marrese will evaluate the submissions and select the winning project.

The winner of the PhMuseum 2025 Photobook Award will be announced during a special ceremony on Saturday, October 18, at 6:30 PM. Thanks to MPB's generous support, the winning project will be published as a professionally curated and produced photobook by PhMuseum. The completed publication will receive its official presentation during PhMuseum Days 2026, the International Photography Festival scheduled for October 2026.

Adding to Saturday's programming, PhMuseum will present the inaugural issue of its new print magazine at 6:00 PM, as part of an extensive schedule of book launches and author presentations. The festival also offers the "Dummy Deep Dive," an intensive workshop led by renowned American photographer and writer Aaron Schuman. This specialized workshop is designed for photographers and artists who want to transform their visual projects into publishable book formats.

The festival has garnered significant support from various institutions and organizations. The Municipality of Bologna has provided essential funding, while MPB serves as the main sponsor. Additional support comes from collaboration with Banca di Bologna and cultural partnerships with Patto per la lettura del Comune di Bologna (Bologna Municipality Reading Pact) and Card Cultura.

Photobook Mania will feature an impressive lineup of twenty-two international publishers, representing diverse approaches to photographic publishing from across the globe. The participating publishers include Artphilein Books from Switzerland, Atelier Tatanka from Italy, Cesura Publish from Italy, Départ pour l'Image from Italy and France, and FotoEvidence from the United States. Other notable participants include Giostre Edizioni from Italy, GOST Books from the United Kingdom, Havaiana Papers – Tiratura from Brazil and Italy, KABK from the Netherlands, and L'Artiere from Italy.

The publisher roster also features Leporello from Italy, Libreria Ulisse from Italy, Macaronibook from Belgium, Muddyisland from Italy, PhMuseum from Italy, and RUST Publishing from Poland. Additional participants include RVM Hub from Italy, Studiofaganel from Italy, The Velvet Cell from Germany, Witty Books from Italy, Yogurt Magazine from Italy, and Zoetrope Athens from Greece. This diverse international representation reflects the global nature of contemporary photobook culture and the festival's ambition to become a premier destination for photobook enthusiasts and professionals alike.