At the Fabbrica del Vapore in Milan, the major exhibition on the Amazon by Sebastião Salgado

From May 12 to November 19, 2023, the Cathedral spaces in Fabbrica del Vapore will host the major exhibition Sebastião Salgado. Amazônia, promoted and produced by Comune di Milano|Cultura, Fabbrica del Vapore and Contrasto with Civita Mostre e Musei and General Service Security. Dedicated to Sebastião Salgado’s photographs of theAmazon , the exhibition is curated by Lélia Wanick Salgado, the great photographer’s travel and life companion. After the Genesis project, dedicated to the most remote regions of the planet to witness its majestic beauty, Salgado embarked on a new series of journeys to capture the incredible richness and variety of the Brazilian Amazon rainforest and the ways of life of its peoples. It was a seven-year project, during which he photographed the vegetation, rivers, mountains and people who live there. With over two hundred photographs on display, Amazônia aims to offer a total immersion in the Amazon rainforest, inviting us to reflect on the need to protect it.

The exhibition is developed around two themes. The first is landscape setting photographs, placed at different heights and presented in different formats, with the sections ranging from aerial views of the forest to flying rivers. The second is devoted to the 12 indigenous groups Salgado has immortalized in his many travels. A visit to the exhibition is accompanied by an immersive audio track specially commissioned for the Amazônia exhibition by Jean-Michel Jarre that brings to life the sounds of the rainforest. With a symphony of the world composed of the concrete sounds of the forest, the exhibition also restores the voices and songs of the indigenous people, all from the sound archives of the Museum of Ethnography in Geneva.

Also new is the Amazônia Touch initiative, the first photographic volume conceived and designed for the blind and visually impaired with publisher Taschen. Thanks to Lélia and Sebastião Salgado’s partnership with the Visio Foundation, a book offering access to photographs of the Amazon rainforest and its indigenous communities through tactile images made on brass plates will be available to visitors for the first time at the Fabbrica del Vapore. Also integral to the exhibition are two projection rooms: one shows the forest landscape, the images of which flow accompanied by the sound of the symphonic poem Erosão; the other displays portraits of indigenous women and men, with music specially composed by Brazilian musician Rodolfo Stroeter in the background.

“Last March, Sebastião Salgado received the Seal of the City of Milan for his constant commitment, in his work as in his life, on environmental and social issues, which are among the pillars of the action of this Administration, and on the necessary balance between man and nature,” said Culture Councilor Tommaso Sacchi. “Salgado’s close bond with the city is also reflected in the special attention given to the setting up of the Milan stage, which will see 18 new trees planted in the outdoor spaces adjacent to the Cathedral on the Fabbrica del Vapore forecourt: a first step toward the implementation of a larger project that will transform Fabbrica into a cultural nursery open to the city.”

“This exhibition,” says Sebastião Salgado, “aims to recreate the environment of the Amazon rainforest, which I have lived in, documented and photographed for seven years, giving visitors the chance to identify with and immerse themselves in both its lush vegetation and the everyday life of the native peoples. I am particularly happy to return with Amazônia to exhibit in Milan, the city that has always given much space to my work, offering citizens the opportunity to see the images that are a testimony to what remains of this immense heritage, which is in danger of disappearing. So that life and nature can escape further episodes of destruction and depredation, it is up to every single human being on the planet to take part in its protection.”

"Drawing Amazônia,“ explains Lélia Wanick Salgado, ”I wanted to create an environment in which the visitor would feel inside the forest, integrated with its exuberant vegetation and the daily life of the indigenous peoples. My idea was to present these images, accompanied by relevant texts, in such a way as to emphasize the beauty of this nature and its inhabitants, as well as its ecological and human dimensions, all of which are so threatened today and which it is essential to protect and preserve."

Adds Roberto Koch, publisher of Contrasto: “Sebastião Salgado, master of scientific and economic popularization, taught us that with photography we can understand the world, walk through it, understand its deep dramas and its pristine beauty; and that his photographs can be the best way to explain the fragilities to be defended. The Amazônia project is proof of this. By following the thread of images, carefully arranged in space by Lélia Wanick, we learn about our planet’s green and precious lung, how we must preserve it, and how we can change the way we act to defend it. With Amazônia, and with the pleasure of returning to Milan, Salgado renews the tradition of great photography with a humanist implantation that, between documentation and interpretation, shows us how there are no solitary dreams in history.”

Giovanni Giuliani, Chief Executive Officer Zurich Italia, global partner of the entire international tour of the Amazônia exhibition, comments, “The global partnership between Sebastião Salgado and Zurich traces our commitment to a sustainable planet and the fight against climate change. The images in this exhibition urge us to reflect on the fragile balance between man and nature. The exhibition, carefully curated by Léila, Sebastião’s wife, is a perfect match for us, so much so that since 2020 we have also been supporting their project to restore part of Brazil’s Atlantic Forest by planting one million trees with them.”

The sponsorship is part of Zurich’s broader project to raise awareness of the urgency of concrete action for the environment and is an extension of an established partnership with Instituto Terra, the nonprofit organization of Lélia and Sebastião Salgado, with which the company initiated the Zurich Forest project, for targeted, sustainable reforestation in Brazil and the conversion of barren farmland into native forests rich in plant and animal life. A room within the exhibition is devoted to an in-depth look at the project.

Accompanying the exhibition throughout its duration will be a rich program of talks aimed at exploring the contents of Amazônia: it will begin on May 12 with a dialogue between Sebastião Salgado and photographer Ferdinando Scianna, to continue with philosopher and biologist Telmo Pievani, journalists Michele Smargiassi and Riccardo Luna, and writer Angelo Ferracuti, for a series of appointments with which to reflect and promote debate on the environment and the role of each of us in helping to save the planet.

A further specific project for this special Milanese stage sees the involvement of Orticola with the aim of promoting the usability of the area outside Fabbrica del Vapore to visitors: the forecourt will therefore see an installation that includes the planting of 18 trees, chosen from typical species of Lombard flora. An ideal extension of the exhibition and a tribute to the commitment to the preservation of the Amazon rainforest, to emphasize the importance of knowledge, care and protection of biodiversity in every part of the world. In addition, thanks to URBAN VISION screens, a selection of the shots will land in the city in a kind of traveling, open-air exhibition that invites sustainability and attention to others. Zurich is the global partner for the entire international tour of the Amazônia exhibition. Urban Vision is the media partner for the Milan leg, ATM the technical sponsor. The exhibition is produced in collaboration with La Rinascente and Neutralia.

At the Fabbrica del Vapore in Milan, the major exhibition on the Amazon by Sebastião Salgado

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