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From 09/10//2021 To  19/02/2022  
African Museum – Vicolo Pozzo 1, 37129 Verona
The entrance is submitted to the payment of a ticket.
Reinforced Green Pass required
Recommanded to: Street photography lovers; those who are passionate about other cultures or curious about the daily dignity of contemporary Africa.

February 10, 2022.

On October 9, 2021, the exhibition opened in Verona’s African museum and was extended until 19 February 2022. It’s been organised by Verona’s African Museum and by the city’s African Cinema Festival.

The African Museum of Combonian Missionaries was formed by Bishop Francesco Sogaro, who displayed the first objects sent by the missionaries in a room of the institute’s “Mother House”. The museum was established in 1938 and conceived as a showcase for the activities of the Combonian missionaries in Africa. In the early 1960s, the museum opened up to all those who wished to learn about Africa and quickly became a place for ethno-anthropological study on this continent. 

Through the knowledge contained in the approximately twenty thousand volumes that make up the Library of Nigrizia, many students were able to carry out research and prepare dissertations on issues of ethno-anthropological interest, increasing the involvement of anthropologists, researchers and experts in African cultures involved in those years. In 1996 the museum was renewed, offering multimedia paths, exhibitions, and educational workshops to respond to new sensitivities and new ways of looking at Africa. In 2006, a change in the museum itinerary was made. While remaining central to its role as an “ethnographic showcase” for knowledge of the continent, it has found new ways to take root in the Verona area and become an instrument of intercultural dialogue in encountering other cultures. In 2014, under the direction of Father V. Milani, the museum set itself a new challenge: to establish a dialogue between the languages expressed in the rich ethno-anthropological collection and the latest technology, video and multimedia ones. The architectural project was by Architect Mauro Del Maro, the multimedia project and video contributions are by Massimiliano Troiani and Laura Fasciolo cured the decorative aspect. The quest for interpenetration was to make the collection more up-to-date and contextualise the many complexities and diversities found in African realities. 

As a traveller, Alberto Frigoli has crossed the continent from the 1970s to the present day, trying to capture the beauty of spontaneous gestures in his photographs, guiding us to discover an Africa lived without borders and without time. The idea of exhibiting many images side by side, testifying the present in today’s Africa, is a choice that brings even the most inexperienced person closer to a complex reality that deserves proper attention.

ri-Scatto. Oltre lo sguardo (redemption beyond the gaze) is organised by the African Museum and the African Film Festival of Verona and aims to tell the story of everyday Africa in its many facets. The kaleidoscope of images proposed brings out the dignity of daily life, work and the art of representing it. Around 300 photographs are exhibited, selected from thousands of Alberto Frigoli’s photos, which focus mainly on the activities in the markets, the art of shop and hotel signs, and the vitality of the streets and squares. Two choices characterise this exhibition:
The first is that it was decided to place many of the photos on the room walls made available for the exhibition. In this way, they seem to take on the role of the pieces of a puzzle. As they proceed through the exhibition space, a multifaceted and complex image of contemporary Africa is composed in the visitor’s mind. 

The second peculiarity is the support chosen, which allows us to go deeper into the style they wanted to give to this exhibition. 
The print of the artworks is made using Tonki and was directly done on recycled cardboard, so the photograph acquires a material, almost pictorial texture that enriches its complexity. In addition, the regular shape, a square of about 25 cm per side, allows the exhibition to order, in a semblance of a scheme, a succession of chaotic and vivid details that want to tell the story of Africa and that are further emphasised through their juxtaposition.

The exhibition route unfolds within a room, included in the museum route, in which many photos have been hung over the entire usable wall surface. The small size of these images, printed using Tonki, creates an exhibition wall that resembles a mosaic, even if it does not give a linear and sequential overview but contains the beat of a living piece of the world. The first thing that strikes the eye is the strong presence of color within the images. Many bright shades and lively combinations contribute to making the eye move incessantly over these shots, which are different from each other, restoring the feeling of feverish movement of a living and flourishing Africa. Immediately afterward, one’s consciousness is drawn to the astonishing number of details displayed on the same wall. Side by side, they give the idea of a specific space and time. With the contrast of different life situations, one recognizes and discovers new aspects of the complexity of another reality. Finally, one finds oneself engaging in a dialogue with these works, regardless of one’s training, prodded by the wall covered with shots which in turn observes the visitor, waiting for their comment. 

The fragments of everyday life that Alberto Frigoli has collected and presented certainly arouse the visitor’s curiosity and present situations that are alien to the daily life of many of us, but thanks to his work, we can perceive how they are lived in Africa. His ability to capture so many of the specific aspects of everyday life on the continent makes his artistic signature and gives back all the multifaceted and complex energy of a lively and vibrant Africa in front of which the visitors can do nothing more than try to understand the puzzle in front of them.

Do you wanna go see this display?

Here there is all the information you need!

REMEMBER THAT on FEBRUARY 19 there is a FINISSAGE event with collective dismantling: take home your favorite shot! Free entrance.

Tip: You will find an introduction to contemporary Africa in Verona.

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