PEOPLE OF TAMBA Fotografie di Giovanni Hänninen

PEOPLE OF TAMBA Pictures by Giovanni Hänninen 
 
SENEGAL/SICILY Video-documentaries by Alberto Amoretti
and Giovanni Hänninen  

Idrissa Sidibe, beekeeper © Giovanni Hänninen

The Fondazione Sozzani presents the photographic project People of Tamba by Giovanni Hänninen and the series of video-documentary shorts Senegal/Sicily by Alberto Amoretti and Giovanni Hänninen. The two projects were born with the common goal of addressing the different aspects of illegal migration in African and Western societies. 

 Giovanni Hänninen with People of Tamba creates a typological catalog of the society of Tambacounda, the most internal and rural region of Senegal. It is the place of origin of most of the migrants who leave the country bound for Europe. The project, started in 2017 and composed of 200 images, presents a selection of large-format photographs (3 x 2 meters) in Milan. Hänninen's goal is to restore dignity to migrants - often considered only as numbers and flows - with a collective portrait of the society from which they come. The inspiration for this project stems from the work of German photographer August Sander (People of the Twentieth Century) who, in the 1920s, produced a series of portraits of ordinary people for a catalog of the roles of German society shortly before the rise of Nazism. ​

 Senegal/Sicily is a series of video-documentary shorts on the theme of migration between Senegal and Sicily, born from the collaboration of Alberto Amoretti and Giovanni Hänninen with The Josef and Anni Albers Foundation and Ngo Le Korsa. The purpose is twofold: to create awareness about the thoughts, dreams and experiences of migrants and their families left in Senegal and, at the same time, to bring to the young people of the Tambacounda region a proper report on the risks of the journey and what happens in Europe to the people who have managed to arrive. The shorts Senegal/Sicily have found their first audiences with itinerant screenings in the schools and villages of Tambacounda. Massamba, a member of the staff of the Ngo Le Korsa, brings a projector and periodically sets up occasional cinemas in the most remote areas of the region, bringing testimonies and accurate information on what migration is. 

 Homecomings, the fourth episode of the series, will be presented at the Fondazione Sozzani. A chorus of men's voices who, after their migrant experience, decided or were forced to return home. Among them Moustapha, a fisherman from a village near Dakar who, having faced the ocean to reach the Canary Islands, faced circumstances which, in some way, were even harsher: overcoming the shame of returning home without any success and poorer than before. 

 The People of Tamba portraits were displayed in three-by-two meters prints glued to the walls of the Medina of Dakar (Dak'Art 2018); displayed in the Medina of Marrakech (1-54, Contemporary African Art Fair, 2019); and on the occasion of the Nuit Blanche 2018 displayed in Paris. This experience of public art allowed residents to freely engage these images, thanks to their  life-size format.  

 In addition to the photographs on display on the Fondazione Sozzani roof garden, eleven prints will be affixed to the walls of the city of Milan, to continue the experience of public art realized in Dakar, Paris and Marrakech. 
 The projects People of Tamba and Senegal/Sicily are made possible with the support of The Josef and Anni Albers Foundation and Le Korsa. 

Alberto Amoretti Alberto Amoretti was born in 1982 and lives between Rome and Milan. He is a screenwriter, author and director. After graduating from the Centro Sperimentale di Cinematografia in Milan in 2010, he began collaborating with director Stefano Reali, writing TV movies and series for RAI and Mediaset. With the Atopos theater company he co-authored the Homini (ovvero Man Pride) show in 2015 and made the documentary ATOPOS, theatrical genders (2017) his directorial debut. For the Albers Foundation he realized, together with Giovanni Hänninen, the video installation Anni's Loom (2017), presented at the Guggenheim Museum Bilbao, and the short A Touching Sight (2019), in addition to the series of short documentaries Senegal/Sicily presented at the Centro Internazionale di Fotografia in Palermo, at Dak'Art 2018, at the Maysles Doumentary Center in New York, at the Fondazione Studio Marangoni in Florence and at the Musée Yves Saint Laurent in Marrakech during 1-54 Contemporary Art Fair. 
​
 Giovanni Hänninen Giovanni Hänninen was born in Helsinki in 1976. He lives and works in Milan, where he earned a PhD in Aerospace Engineering and teaches Photography for Architecture at the School of Architecture and Society of the Politecnico di Milano. Since 2009 he has been photographer for the Filarmonica della Scala orchestra. In 2012 he was presented by Gabriele Basilico in the exhibition 20X20 with the project cittàinattesa. In 2015 he participated in the Triennale Off with MI-BG 49km. Invited by The Josef and Anni Albers Foundation to photograph its own artist's residence in Senegal, his pictures have been shown at the exhibition Thread (2017) at David Zwirner, New York. In 2018 he was called by Bijoy Jan to document the projects carried out by Studio Mumbai in India. In the same year he presented the project People of Tamba in Dak'Art 2018 - Dakar Biennial of Art, taken to Paris for Nuit Blanche and to Marrakech as a special project of MACAAL (Musée d'Art Contemporain Africain Al Maaden) for the 154 Contemporary Art Fair. 
 

Fondazione Sozzani The Fondazione Sozzani was established in 2016 by Carla Sozzani and is dedicated to the promotion of culture through photography, fashion, the fine arts, and applied arts. The Foundation has assumed the patronage of Galleria Carla Sozzani and continues all relevant public functions that the Galleria has supported for the past 29 years. www.fondazionesozzani.org 

Opening Thursday May16th 2019 From 6.00 pm to 9.00 pm 
On view 17 May – 2 June 2019 Every day, 10.30 am – 7.30 pm
Wednesdays and Thursdays, 10.30 am – 9.00 pm  
Entry ticket 5 €  Reduced ticket 3 € (6-26 years) 

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