Saturday February 25th 2023 at 6 pm another piece will be added to the great photographic and anthropological project of Arturo Delle Donne. In fact, 20 new large-scale photographs will be on display at the Museum of Chinese Art and Ethnography in Parma. The temporary exhibit will be displayed until Sunday June 30th 2023
The journey among "homo sapiens" continues, a journey that began two years ago, when the photographer Arturo Delle Donne started to portray women, men, girls and boys of the most diverse ethnic groups, united by the experience of a journey, perhaps definitive towards Italy.
Saturday February 25th at 6 pm the photographic exhibition "The Homo Sapiens 3" will be inaugurated in the spaces of the Chinese Art Museum in Parma, with the presence of the artist and the director of the Museum Chiara Allegri. An additional contribution will be provided by Anellodebole theater company which will offer public readings selected from the work "Where storms are born".
The 19 photographs on display add to the first set of forty photos already presented to the public from 2021. They represent a single, ethnographic, indicative document. They are both a source and a definitive elaboration to enhance the antique human aspiration to travel while keeping its roots in the heart. These veins of identity take shape in material and chromatic elements given by clothes, accessories, hairstyles and proxemics in front of the photographic lens.
Clothing, in particular, denotes a trace of customs, lifestyles, inclinations which adapt to the place of origin, constitutes a heritage preserved in the wardrobes of houses in the Italian provinces, often hidden in trunks or in attics. True works of traditional craftsmanship that deserve to be documented, valued, saved from the homogenizing fringes of globalization movements.
This exhibit project finds its first location in a museum, showing the enhancing vein of the anthropological elements highlighted by this photographic work, whose first process was the research, contact and meeting of the people. The clothes worn are the property and pride of those who have made themselves available to participate in the project. The link between the dress and the individual photographed is therefore two-way, without one the other would not exist.
The method involved various steps: first phase was the search for the people to be photographed. Then the selection based on the possession of dresses and accessories by the individuals identified. Then, the meeting with the photographer Delle Donne takes place, inside our Museum, aimed at creating an empathic moment. The proxemics in front of the lens was the result of the relationship created between the artist and the subject, leaving the latter the widest freedom to choose the final pose also dictated by cultural legacies linked to proxemics and profilmics.
The ultimate goal of the project is to be able to touch all the countries of the world, in the nuances of the different ethnic groups, without moving from the Italian territory. Searching with curiosity and respect for what in the end, and not without an initial modesty, is shown to the eye of the photographer and the public.
"With this project - specifies the photographer Arturo Delle Donne - I wanted to celebrate diversity as a richness of humanity, to look beyond cultural differences. Discovering the bond of one's origins through the dress worn with love, pride and often with nostalgia. It was above all an ancestral journey, a formative journey in the places, in the cultures, in the feelings of the people I met and portrayed”.
The director of the Museum, Chiara Allegri, states: “Our Museum has as its objective the maximum sharing and knowledge of other cultures. The photographic expression of fabrics, clothes, accessories, proxemics of many different ethnic groups confirms our will and perseverance in the anthropological, cultural and, last but not least, human research".
On opening day, admission at the museum for this exhibit and the permanent collections of of €2.00.
Opening hours at the Museum of Chinese Art and Ethnography:
From Tuesday to Saturday: from 9 to 13 and from 15 to 19
Sunday: from 15 to 19
Ticket: € 3 (standard), € 1,50 (under 18)
For guided tours and workshops, please write to:
Arturo Delle Donne, born in Naples, graduated in biology with a PhD in ecology, is an artist, professional photographer, director of photography. He began his professional activity with reportage by publishing various services in specialized magazines such as Gente Viaggi, Mondo Sommerso and Aqva; some of his photos were published by Whitestar / National Geographic. He then specializes in fashion photography.
He is a lecturer in photography at the University of Parma and a consultant for scientific dissemination and documentary for Pause and the Loris Malaguzzi Foundation of Reggio Emilia. In June 2008 he won the first prize for creative quality in professional photography in the food category, whose prestigious jury defined him: "an author of extraordinary versatility".
Since 2005, in collaboration with the Solares Fondazione delle Arti di Parma, he has started the photographic project "Closer Portraits": more than 80 portraits of personalities from the world of entertainment and culture including Wim Wenders, Mario Monicelli, Ernest Borgnine, Bernardo Bertolucci, Daniel Pennac, Michelangelo Pistoletto, Hanna Schygulla, Edoardo Galeano, Gerard Depardieu, Emir Kusturica, James Ivory, Peter Greenaway and many others. He edited the iconographic part of the volume “Gusto Italiano” for ALMA - International School of Italian Cuisine, Plan editions, released in March 2012. In 2016 he collaborated for the filming of the documentary “Pope Francis - A Man of His Word”, directed by Wim Wenders.
Thanks to this collaboration, in October 2017 he filmed the rescue operations of migrants aboard the CP941 Diciotti ship of the Italian Coast Guard. He has signed dozens of ADV and fashion campaigns. In July 2019 he won the prestigious TAOAWARD for fashion photography with the following motivation: "for his ability to personally elaborate the numerous commissions in the professional field and especially in the fashion world". He has exhibited in various museums and institutional venues including the Museum of the Sea in Genoa, the Museum of Modern Art in Velikij Novgorod, Russia, Palazzo Pigorini in Parma, Palazzo Tupputi in Bisceglie, at the Museum of Chinese Art and Ethnography in Parma.
