At the Museo degli Innocenti, Steve McCurry's major exhibition entirely dedicated to children

From May 19 to Oct. 8, 2023, the Museo degli Innocenti in Florence will host photographer Steve McCurry’s new exhibition, Children, entirely dedicated tochildhood. Through a hundred photographs of children from every corner of the world, portrayed in scenes of everyday life, the exhibition aims to raise awareness of the issue of youth exploitation. In the countries McCurry has traveled to, especially in Asia, too many children are forced to work instead of play and go to school. The very young protagonists immortalized by the famous photographer’s lens differ in ethnicity, dress and traditions but express the same feeling with their inexhaustible energy, joy and ability to play even in the most abnormal and difficult contexts, often determined by social, environmental or conflict conditions.

The exhibition aims to tell the story of childhood in all its facets, while at the same time highlighting a characteristic common to children all over the world: the innocence of their gaze.

The exhibition itinerary at the Istituto degli Innocenti, a symbolic place of concern for childhood that has been promoting and protecting children’s rights for more than six hundred years, begins with a series of portraits and develops among images of war and poetry, suffering and joy, wonder and irony.

The visitor ideally follows McCurry on his travels through India, Burma, Japan, Africa to Brazil, meeting refugee or working children, children oblivious to danger playing climbing a cannon or frolicking in the mud, chasing a ball during a monsoon downpour, or playing a guitar made from discarded materials. Children growing up in big cities as well as in rural villages. These are stories of joy and togetherness, of loneliness, of resilience and solidarity, of family and friendship, told with respect and a very strong empathy.

Accompanying the audience will be topical insights curated by the Istituto degli Innocenti.

Children is a journey into childhood to meet little human beings who face such different conditions, but who speak a language in which everyone can recognize themselves. It is also a journey into the memory of one’s own childhood, and food for thought on the responsibility we have towards the new generations, in the knowledge that the dream of a more just future depends on the actions of our present.

The exhibition is curated by Biba Giacchetti with Melissa Camilli of the SudEst57 team, under the patronage of the City of Florence, in collaboration with the Institute of the Innocenti Institute, produced and organized by Civita Exhibitions and Museums with In Your Event by Cristoforo SCS, and realized with the support of Unicoop Firenze, I Gigli and Mercato Centrale.

For info: www.museodeglinnocenti.it

Hours: Daily from 10 a.m. to 7 p.m.

At the Museo degli Innocenti, Steve McCurry's major exhibition entirely dedicated to children

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