Terna launches the Driving Energy 2024 photography award

The theme is 'The path of the invisible', the key is also visual sustainability

ROME - Invisible is the world of emotions and that of thought, in all their possible declinations:artistic, scientific and technological, imaginative or rational. Also invisible is the energy that Terna, the manager of the national electricity grid, is committed to transmitting to the entire country every day, 365 days a year.After the success of the second edition, which saw around 2,800 participants, Terna launches the Driving Energy 2024 Award – Contemporary Photography, whose theme this year is 'The path of the invisible'.The free competition, open to all professional and amateur photographers in Italy, is aimed at promoting the cultural development of the country and new talents in the sector.From today, e until June 30th, photographers are invited to interpret the different forms of invisible energy which, however, produce visible effects: a way to celebrate the talent and uniqueness of art that manages to see realities that for many do not exist, or do not yet exist. The power lines designed and built by Terna, in its role as enabler of the ecological transition, are also increasingly invisible. The sustainability of infrastructures, often invisible to the human eye, is a strategic driver and one of the pillars of the Group's activity.

As he explains David Massey, Director of External Relations and Institutional Affairs of Terna, the theme of the invisible, chosen for the 2024 edition of the Driving Energy Award, belongs to the activity of Terna, the company that manages the Italian high and very high voltage electricity transmission network and the largest independent operator of electricity transmission networks in Europe.An invisibility expressed "in the internalization of the cables, in the invisible submarine cables, except perhaps to the fish, all examples of Terna's invisible, as well as the naturalistic engineering chosen to camouflage the transmission stations, or the special paints for the pylons, made chromatically harmonious with the environments in which they are inserted, with a camouflage effect that makes the pylon invisible. In the mountains, colors such as light green, dark green and hazelnut are chosen, whereas where there is fog they are white, they cannot be seen, and therefore they are invisible“.

However, the Driving Energy 2024 Award – Contemporary Photography combines sustainability with culture, in an ecosystem of contemporary values.“For Terna, culture is a strategic resource:for this reason we have given continuity to our commitment with a high profile project such as the Driving Energy Award.We are proud to launch this third edition and to stimulate, by sharing it with Italians, a moment of collective growth and reflection centered on photography, contemporaneity and the fundamental role of Terna in serving the country", explains Igor De Biasio, president of Terna.

“The theme of the Award, 'The path of the invisible', it allows us to bring to the attention of all citizens the fundamental aspects of our mission, the values ​​we share. With this year's edition we want to highlight the theme of sustainability, not only the cornerstone of our strategic and industrial approach, but also a manifestation of the broader vision that Terna has for the present and future of our country”, adds Giuseppina Di Foggia, CEO and General Manager of Terna.

The 2024 edition of the Award confirms the approach of the previous one, which managed to achieve ambitious objectives in terms of openness, inclusion and involvement at a national level, and thus decreeing the success of the Driving Energy - Contemporary Photography Award in the photography sector. This year too, there will be five awards: Senior Award, worth 15 thousand euros, open to participants aged 31 and over, the Youth Award, worth 5 thousand euros, dedicated to photographers up to 30 years old, the Amateur Award, worth 5 thousand euros, open to those who do not professionally pursue a career as photographers, the Academy Mention, worth 2 thousand euros, open to students enrolled in higher education institutions in the sectors related to the Award, and the Opera Mention most voted by Terna, worth 2 thousand euros, open to all categories and assigned by Terna people who will vote for their favorite work among the finalists, previewing them on the TernaCult portal, a cultural promotion platform for exclusive internal use.

The Governance structure has also been confirmed for the Driving Energy 2024 - Contemporary Photography Award, starting with the Presidential Committee made up of Igor De Biasio and Giuseppina Di Foggia, respectively President and CEO and General Manager of Terna.

To the Curator Marco Delogu and to the President of the Jury Lorenza Bravetta, elements of important continuity with previous editions, are joined by new jurors chosen from high profile personalities in the reference sectors of the Award: Francesca Barbi Marinetti, art critic, curator and cultural entrepreneur; Micol Forti, Curator of the Modern and Contemporary Art Collection of the Vatican Museums; Rosa Alba Imprint, collector, entrepreneur and founder of the Made in Cloister project; the brothers Fabio and Damiano D'Innocenzo, directors, screenwriters, poets and photographers.Complete the Jury David Massey, Director of External Relations and Institutional Affairs of Terna.

Also confirmed the Honorary Committee, composed of the winners of the 2023 edition of the Award:Dione Roach (Senior Award), Martina Zanin (Young Award), Antonio Vacirca (Amateur Award), Beatrice Aiello (Academy Mention), and Lorenzo Pipi (Terna's Most Voted Work Mention).They have the task of awarding the Academy Mention.

“2024, for the Driving Energy Award, is in all probability the year of consecration, an extraordinary result for a project born only two years ago.The third edition of the competition kicks off benefiting from the intense work carried out so far with Terna:the Award has now become a highly anticipated event by professionals and is recognized as a fundamental stage of contemporary photography in Italy", says Delogu, Curator of the Award.As in previous editions, registrations for the Award are open from today on the official website premiumdrivingenergy.terna.it.