Modena Visual Arts Foundation and the Venturi Art Institute of Modena, together with the Vignali family, are the promoters of an important project sponsored by the Emilia Romagna Region and aimed at spreading the culture of images, supporting the development of artistic research through the means of photography and video. The Davide Vignali Award is a competition that is aimed at students in the 5th grade of the Emilia-Romagna Region and which for over ten years has been a regular appointment in supporting the creativity of young generations. 

Born in 2011 by the will of Marisa and Doriano Vignali in the urgent need to react to the tragic and untimely death of their son, the Prize has always aimed to give life to Davide's energy, evoking his humanity, his vivacity, his desire to accomplish something important. Each year, participants are asked to send an unpublished artistic project with a free theme, in the form of a photographic series, video or installation, accompanying the images with a brief presentation of the central idea developed in the work. Each year, the winning projects and a selection of the best works in competition are presented with an exhibition included in the exhibition program of the Modena Visual Arts Foundation.

The photographs and videos sent to the competition suggest emotions, anxieties, gazes on reality and explorations of the world of youth. Through the expressive and immediate language of images, the projects reveal dreams and ideals, make intimate subjective sensations visible, evoke memories, bring out visions of surreal and alternative worlds. Despite the difficulties related to the pandemic and distance learning, in recent years the enthusiasm and commitment shown by the participants have not faded and the projects have continued to arrive numerous, in many cases reworking the difficult experience of this time through images. suspended. 

Based on the video-photographic quality, originality, clarity of the idea and the ability to implement, the best projects participating in the competition are selected to be exhibited in an exhibition and in a related catalog. The winners receive a prize of 1,000 euros, participation in a photographic workshop at the Modena Visual Arts Foundation and a book voucher to spend at the Foundation's bookshop, as well as an additional 500 euros prize reserved for students of the Modena art institute.