Livorno gets an exhibition dedicated to photographer Letizia Battaglia

From Jan. 19 to March 15, 2019, the Granaries of Villa Mimbelli will dedicate an exhibition to Letizia Battaglia, recognized as one of the most important figures in contemporary photography not only for her shots firmly present in the collective imagination, but also for the civic and ethical value she attributes to photography-making.

The solo exhibition that bears her name, Letizia Battaglia, is promoted by the Carlo Laviosa Foundation and is part of the broader Photography and the World of Work project that the Laviosa Foundation is pursuing in sharing with the Municipality of Livorno.
Articulated in exhibition, production and educational moments, the project could not fail to give due space also to the work of the photographer as a journalist. Hence the choice on Letizia Battaglia and her extraordinary shots.

On Letizia Battaglia’s own instructions, the path of the Livorno exhibition will consist of fifty black-and-white shots articulated, not so much following a chronological or thematic order, but rather a common thread between the atrocious and the beautiful as traces of the archetypes that generate human actions.

The work of Letizia, a young woman of 83, has often been summarily labeled as a vivid account of Mafia murders but this is decidedly reductive. Yes, Battaglia was a trench photographer(nomen omen), active on the front lines in places where one witnesses horror and can smell those who a moment before were still alive, but she has also enlightened and enriched us with her relentless pursuit of beauty and dignity: her photos restore the pathos of Greek tragedies, the sorrow and the sublime.

“We are honored to host this exhibition of the highest level. An extraordinary exhibition of enormous artistic but also civil and ethical value. When it was proposed to me by the Laviosa Foundation, which I thank, and which I hope will continue to collaborate with this Administration, I thought it was a dream ... a dream that has come true.” This was stated by Culture Councillor Francesco Belais at the opening of the press conference for the presentation of the initiative, which was attended by Pietro Starita and Serafino Fasulo (Art Director of the Laviosa Foundation) as well as Paola Tognon, scientific director of the Livorno City Museums.

On January 18, Letizia Battaglia will be in Livorno to meet with the public. The meeting, preceded by institutional greetings, will be conducted by the Scientific Director of the Musei Città di Livorno, Dr. Paola Tognon, and the Art Director of the Carlo Laviosa Foundation, Dr. Serafino Fasulo, curator of the exhibition.

The exhibition will be accompanied by a catalog to be offered for sale at the museum bookshop, the proceeds of which will be entirely used for the Photography and the World of Work project. The Carlo Laviosa Foundation has always considered the world of work to be a field of analysis of fundamental importance for understanding social dynamics and the disparities in conditions from country to country. In fact, talking about work means reflecting on the primary energy that humanity has at its disposal and on the concept of democracy, and to do this the Foundation has chosen a language that for about 150 years has been a witness and archive of human actions and the transformations of the planet: photography.

For all information you can visit www.museofattori.livorno.it.

Pictured: Letizia Battaglia, Ball, New Year’s Eve Party at Villa Airoldi (1985)

Livorno gets an exhibition dedicated to photographer Letizia Battaglia

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