THROUGH OUR EYES – Attraverso i nostri occhi

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The Concilio Europeo dell’Arte presents, at InParadiso Art Gallery, a section dedicated to the project THROUGH OUR EYES | ATTRAVERSO I NOSTRI OCCHI, created by Still I Rise organization.

InParadiso Art Gallery, Venezia

Free admission subject to availability (in compliance with anti-Covid safety measures)

from Tuesday to Sunday h 11.00 - 19.00

29 Maggio - 4 Luglio 2021

Opening Saturday 29 Maggio

 

The Concilio Europeo dell’Arte is pleased to host at InParadiso Art Gallery, the exhibition THROUGH OUR EYES | ATTRAVERSO I NOSTRI OCCHI, organized by the territorial group of Still I Rise Venice, in collaboration with Concilio Europeo dell’Arte.

The photography project realized by Nicoletta Novara, creator of the exhibition, collects the testimonials of 47 refugee minors and students of the youth center of Still I Rise based on the island of Samos. As a part of an educational activity proposed by the center, students captured with disposable Kodak color cameras their life in the camp, showing the he physically and psychologically debilitating conditions in which they live.

The almost 250 shots, collected from December 2018 to July 2020, captured the daily horror of the camp, through their young eyes.

This photography workshop delivered in Mazì will be replicated in other Still I Rise schools, with the objective to develop resilience in education through teaching and psychosocial training.

«Samos hotspot seems to work following the fine thread of human annihilation, rather than on the question of hospitality. Our students fight every day a personal battle of resistance against a system that does not perceive them as human beings in a condition of fragility but rather as an uncomfortable entity not worthy of being part of civil society», explains Nicoletta Novara.

However, students have also delivered image of hope: shots speak of a beautiful sea, hills and trees on the island of Samos and narrate of their enthusiasm when discovering Europe and our culture.

«At Mazí we used photography to give them back their unicity. We did not want someone else to speak for them, but we tried to understand better, through their eyes, the overall refugee condition».

“Through Our Eyes” thus reveals, in an intimate and disarming way, the difficulties that boys and girls aged 12 to 17 face every day in Samos refugee camp. The photos are divided into two chapters: before and after the global pandemic. Some of the students found themselves living in the refugee camp during the lockdown and their pictures tell us about the impossibility to respect social distancing, the fear of getting sick, and the reaction of people who started small activities to survive.

“Through our eyes” is now a book published by Bur Editions and will be published in all bookshops in Italy on November 3rd, 2020. The book opens with a tale written by Nicolò Govoni, President of Still I Rise, and continues with a selection of shots from the exhibition. Each photograph comes with a note written by the children themselves, recalling the time spent on the island of Samos and recounting their dreams and hopes for the future.

 

PRESS RELEASE

Discover how to support this project on Still I Rise website.

 

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Contatti

For more information about the project: Nicoletta Novara, photo@stillirisengo.org

Press Office: Vanessa Cappella, media@stillirisengo.org

Local exhibition: Patrizia Ghisetti, patrizia@stillirisengo.org