Con la loro partenza nacque il sogno di un ritorno | With Their Departure, The Dream of a Return Was Born

*Courtesy Image of Opher Thomson* | **With Their Departure, The Dream Of Return Was Born.**

From 02/10/2021 To 09/01/2022
Natural History and Archeological Museum of Santa Corona – Contrà Santa Corona, 4 36100 Vicenza (VI)
Entrance: 3€ (single ticket for the museum )
Green Pass required.
Realized on the occasion of: “Vicenza e la montagna” (Vicenza and the Mountains) XII edition
Organized by: CAI, GM, SAV, MontagnaViva climbing team of Costabissara and Gruppo Noveroccia (Neveroccia Group) of Arcugnano
Recommended to: Photography lovers; Poetry enthusiasts; Curious about art committed to environmental research.

December 22, 2021.

The exhibition inaugurated on October the 2nd in Vicenza Natural History and Archeological Museum’s courtyard has been extended until 9 January 2022. This exhibition was conceived as part of the twelfth “Vicenza and the mountains” event organized by CAI (Italian Alpine Club), GM (Giovane Montagna), SAV (Alpinists company), the MontagnaViva – Climbing Team Association of Costabissara, and the Neveroccia Group of Arcugnano. A collaboration has been set up with the Natural History and Archeological Museum of Vicenza.
This display has obtained the patronage of the municipality of Vicenza and its Civic Museums.

*Courtesy Image of Musei Civici Vicenza* | *Museo Naturalistico Archeologico of Vicenza.*

The Archaeological and Natural History Museum has housed naturalistic and archaeological collections since 1991, when they were transferred from Palazzo Chiericati to their present location. The architectural complex consists of two courtyards that flank Santa Corona church in Vicenza. The collection is organized in two sections: the natural part that presents the reality of the territory with a focus on “Colli Berici” (Berici Hills) and an archaeological one that documents the presence of man in Vicenza’s area from the Palaeolithic to the Longobard age.

*Courtesy Image of Virna Manattini* | **With Their Departure, The Dream Of Return Was Born.**

With Their Departure, The Dream of a Return Was born is a solo display of Opher Thomson. Through his artistic research, which intertwines the media of writing, photography, and filmmaking, the artist questions the concepts of home and the meanings of place and landscape. In his investigation, he focuses on the environments on the margins of contemporary society and uses them as lenses to investigate the condition of man in modern society. His movies have been presented at Tallinn Black Nights, Torino Film Festival, Camerimage, and other major international film festivals.
A book was made from Opher’s work The New Wild: Life in the Abandoned Lands, which was released in cinemas across Italy. This movie is now available online too.

The exhibition is on the first floor of Santa Corona Natural History and Archaeology Museum, in the corridor connecting the rooms devoted to the Neolithic, Mesolithic and Palaeolithic sections. The photos, mostly in sepia tones, and the texts, in Italian and English, are displayed on self-supporting wooden panels set against the walls, making them easy to read.

The artist’s investigation of man’s atavistic relationship with the natural mountain environment is underlined by the glimpses given by the rooms presenting the museum’s permanent collection. The relationship established between the empty and abandoned spaces, relics of a different way of life, photographed and described by Opher Thomson, and the exhibits in the display cases, create an immersive environment in which the visitor is invited to enter and begin to explore.

The mixture of texts, videos, and photographs reveals the change that has taken place in the relationship between man and nature, starting with the abandoned houses. The dream, which the artist recounts during the exhibition, makes us imagine a distant natural world from the modern city. This creates an intimate dialogue with the deepest part of the person who sees the display, stirring intense emotions.

The cross-references between Opher Thomson‘s temporary exhibition and the permanent collection of the Archaeological and Natural History Museum allow the creation of a path in which the individual is immersed, and the innermost part of themselves is touched. This exhibition has succeeded in reinforcing the link between memory and dream, involving the visitor without the need for explanation.