The decision to name the space after this intellectual, one of the most interesting figures of contemporary photojournalism, who chose Fermo as his city of residence in the last years of his life, makes its function as an outpost of art and culture in constant evolution even more incisive and clear. Dondero said about his work: “Our task is to capture unrepeatable moments that will remain for those who come after us. For me, photography is like social work. And I consider an invented image a disloyalty, first of all to oneself, to one’s human part…”.
Known for his civil and social commitment, his adventurous and legendary story, which spanned the main social, political, cultural and artistic events of the second half of the 20th century, is recounted in the documentary Calma e gesso – in viaggio con Mario Dondero by filmmaker and anthropologist Marco Cruciani, who worked alongside him for five years.
Dondero donated his personal archive, one of the most important in the history of Italian and international photography, to the Marche region: a priceless cultural heritage consisting of around 250,000 colour slides, 350,000 black and white negatives, a few thousand black and white prints and 150 notebooks of notes and comments. It is the photographic account of sixty years of Italian and international cultural history. The task of cataloguing his work, which began when the intellectual was still alive, is carried out at Fermo Photo Library in Altidona.