6th Continent
To recount the Mediterranean, melting pot of cultures is an old ambition (and a bit of a fixation too) of photographers. Personally I have heard them speak for more or less twenty years, and not always with originality.
Insolera's work begins with a journey undertaken with a friend who, in a sailing boat, intended to cross the Atlantic. Two weeks of this experience are enough for the photographer to understand that his interest is directed more towards what is happening on dry land rather than what is happening on a
nutshell in navigation. Thus was born the idea of realising a long project on Mediterranean cultures. Facing the flourishing of clichés that paint this sea as a heavenly place of holiday islands or, on the contrary, as a place where the tragedy of immigration is consumed,
Insolera chooses to go beyond. Thus began his search for the deep essences of the lands, and cultures that live there, that surround the Mediterranean. It is an attempt to explain why today it is back to being the territory of declared International clashes rather than a vital connection of sea.
The exhibition is embellished by the beautiful rooms of the
Fortezza di Girifalco. The level of preparation is impressive the prints on thin canvas hanging from high reminding us somehow of those sails with which once the Mediterranean was furrowed. It is reasonable, however, to believe that they are also responsible for the closure of the windows and of the numerous signs that invite us to not open them. Considering the climb to the fortress and the top floor where the exhibition is housed it can take on mystic contours in the second half of July (and in August nothing presumes that it will be better), one suspects that perhaps they could have found other solutions. As for the images the choice of the situations and places made by the author are comprehendible, however, often he seems to have got carried away with formal concessions for a safe grip on the viewer, but which are not necessarily relevant. Overall the eye tends to be rather satisfied, but that all this is really able to give us a better understanding of what is happening on the shores of mare nostrum, well, maybe this is another matter. [
S. I. ]
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6th CONTINENT
by Mattia Insolera
Fortezza di Girifalco | until September 27th, 2015
admission fee: 4,00 €
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