Against the violence of the NGO debate: NGO photographers, from Dondero to Gualazzini, on display in Bibbiena

CIFA - Centro Italiano della Fotografia d’Autore in Bibbiena (Arezzo), presents the photographic exhibition Il mondo nell’obiettivo. The photographers of NGOs curated by Claudio Pastrone in collaboration with Giovana Calvenzi and Giuseppe Frangi. The exhibition will be held from Saturday, June 15 to Sunday, September 8, 2019.

A common thread running through the exhibition is the way the different photographers have carried out their task of developing the themes that the NGOs have proposed to them. Many authors have documented the various scenarios in a direct way, but each with a personal style. DianaBagnoli photographed for AMREF a sex education operation in Kenya by a local volunteer, whileAbdoulaye Barry documented for COOPI the support for communities afflicted by the violence that erupted with the rise of the Nigerian terrorist group Boko Haram, and again Marco Gualazzini (who was a World Press Photo finalist this year) worked for ActionAid on assisting women who have suffered violence in Madhya Pradesh, a central state in India.

For AVSI Stefano Schirato presented his work on local schoolteachers working in the Palabek refugee camp in Uganda, Andrea Signori interpreted the activity developed by Marco Martinelli who proposed the recitation of the Divine Comedy as a possible remedy to theschool dropout in the Kibera slum in the heart of Nairobi, and Alessandro Serranò proposed for ActionAidthe effects on the territory and population of the earthquake and subsequent tsunami that hit Indonesia late last year and the intervention carried out to meet the needs of the population.

Again, photographers from Studio14photo(Marco Sartori and AndreaArcidiacono with Massimiliano Pescarolo and AlessandroCastiglioni) instead worked for CIAI on unaccompanied foreign minors, the target of a protection and support project in Palermo. Others, each with their own specific style, applied a more interpretive language to their work: GiancarloCeraudo penetrated a problematic Italian reality, the Rione Sanità in Naples, in which Save theChildren operates; Stefano Guindani made portraits of people and environments in Haiti and eight other Latin American countries for Nph Italia - Fondazione Rava ; Giovanni Marrozzini, for Funima International, expressed himself expressed his signature sensitivity by interpreting the situation of drug-addicted children in the city of Asunción, Valentina Tamborra, for AMREF, developed the photographic and narrative project, together with writer Mario De Santis, to bear witness to the plight of thousands of street children living in the dumps of Nairobi.

Still others have produced work far from field documentation, using the tool of the posed portrait: Tanino Musso acquaints the public with an artistic operation promoted by CHEARTE in collaboration with AVSI that has as its theme their own identity and involved as protagonists primary school children from a slum near Kampala in Uganda, while Francesco Alesi worked for a Save the Childrencampaign on stereotypes and prejudices, juxtaposing the human figure with a contemporary graphic sign used to identify objects and goods, and again IsabellaBalena presents us with a series of intense portraits of famous women for WeWorld , true testimonials, who have decided not to remain silent, not to give up, and to fight violence and gender stereotypes on various fronts.

Lastly, the audience encounters the only “historical” work in the exhibition,namely the one made, with the powerful simplicity of style that distinguishes him, by MarioDondero forEmergency, in a Kabul of the early 2000s. His black-and-white images are a reminder of how the NGO has been operating in that country for so many years and continues to this day because unfortunately the results of that war, of which the civilian population is the main victim, seem to be endless.

“Never before has the issue of Non-Governmental Organizations been the focus of public attention as it has been in recent times,” writes Giuseppe Frangi, who carried out the scouting of the works in the exhibition. “It is an attention that has often taken on polemical and verbally violent tones, which ends up relegating to the background the capillary and systematic work that Italian cooperation continues to carry out in difficult and marginal contexts. It is a meritorious action, both socially and culturally, which among its repercussions also has that of keeping channels of knowledge open with forgotten areas of the world. In many cases this is indeed a priority commitment that NGOs take on, as the proposed exhibition shows. There are dozens of photographers who have documented forgotten contexts and emergencies in recent years with the support of organizations. It is not simply a matter of bearing witness with images to the projects that cooperation agencies have carried out. The focus is increasingly broader, to the point that these reports end up performing almost a supplanting function with respect to major information, both print and television, which have increasingly reduced commitment and investment with respect to international information. The result has been to reduce knowledge and inevitably nurture a culture of indifference. NGOs, on the other hand, have continued to invest, albeit in times that are not easy, in documentation, especially visual documentation, showing in particular great confidence in the photographic tool. Photography in its objectivity guarantees a close and faithful look; it is also engaging and therefore capable of mobilizing consciences with respect to situations that require widespread commitment. In fact, NGO photographers bring professionalism, passion and also a solidarity adherence to the objectives of the NGOs, clearly recognizable in the works presented.”

The exhibition involves NGOs and photographers:

-ActionAid (photographers Alessandro Serranò and Marco Gualazzini)

-Amref (photographers Diana Bagnoli and Valentina Tamborra)

-AVSI (photographers Stefano Schirato and Andrea Signori)

-AVSI - THAT ART (photographer Tanino Musso)

-CIAI (photographers Studio14photo: Marco Sartori, Andrea Arcidiacono and of photographers Massimiliano Pescarolo and Alessandro Castiglioni)

-COOPI ( photographer Abdoulaye Barry)

-Emergency ( photographer Mario Dondero)

-Fondazione Francesca Rava - Nph Italia (photographer Stefano Guindani)

-Funima International (photographer Giovanni Marrozzini)

-Save the Children (photographers Francesco Alesi and Giancarlo Ceraudo)

-WeWorld (photographer Isabella Balena)

To learn more you can visit the Italian Center for Fine Art Photography website by clicking here.

Pictured: Marco Gualazzini (ActionAid), One Stop Center. Assisting women who have experienced violence in Madhya Pradesh, central state of India.

Against the violence of the NGO debate: NGO photographers, from Dondero to Gualazzini, on display in Bibbiena

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