SHeroic deeds often arise at unexpected times and in unusual ways. “Extraordinary” was born during the lockdown. Terre des Hommes, the non-profit organization that has been carrying out a campaign in defense of girls and young women for more than ten years (#indifesa), wanted to create a photographic project that talked about gender stereotypesthat series of conventions with which the dominant culture has oppressed and limited the lives of women for millennia, in this and other worlds: by changing latitude, only the degree of oppression changes.
110 women Extraordinary
With photography, a synthetic and immediate language, it was possible to avoid the paradigm of the woman-victim and show virtuous models who had fought those stereotypes in every area of private and professional life. Choose more of one hundred women it was a responsibility that involved difficult work. Choosing means eliminating.
There are many extraordinary women. It was necessary to avoid forgetting some professional fields and, although all Italian, to involve them from different origins, contemplate every difference and embrace all generations: there is a 72 year difference between Madame and Natalia Aspesi, to give an example.
Today on display there are 110 portraits, a very small part of the female universe. There are millions of them, everywhere around us and yet, seeing them collected in a photographic exhibition like a contemporary pantheon of different personalities, strikes us as if it were the detail of the whole. With the photographer Ilaria Magliocchetti Lombi we took a trip to Italy. In Milan we rebuilt a room in the glorious RCS studios, in Rome in the photography schools, transforming each portrait session into a workshop. Sometimes we went to the protagonists’ houses. In Turin, we recreated the studio in a hotel. The staging of the portrait had to take place in a neutral place, a sort of room all to itself in which everyone, with their hair and make-up done, could feel comfortable to pose and talk. The precious gray cloth that designs the space is a quote from the wonderful work of the master of photography Irving Penn, who in ’67 created Worlds in a small room, creating a sort of walking studio.
Extraordinary: Milena Gabanelli
Every portrait session was a happening: many talked about each other, some danced, others met, dialogues were born that became debates. It had to be recorded. They would have been talking portraits. The lives are interesting, the anecdotes are funny, the memories are melancholic. The audio that accompanies the exhibition tells of the intimate and profound struggle that the women encountered on their journey and of the strength and tenacity with which they faced family obstacles and social barriers to pursue their desires.
It took more than two years of photography to Extraordinary, the pandemic dictated the timing and slowed down the conclusion. Now, the exhibition and the book are the result of a weaving of existential fragments through bodies, faces and voices, which invites everyone to observe the multitude of possibilities that women contain and the freedom with which they express them by occupying the space of the world.
“There is still a lot of work to do,” all the protagonists said in chorus. The road ahead has already been traced and comes from afar: the spark of feminism has ignited consciences and made women aware of themselves and the world and triggered that process of liberation that has called into question the foundations of the dominant culture and the stereotypes with which it acts. To continue the work we still have to do.
The exhibition in Milan
“Straordinarie” is a project promoted by Terre des Hommes as part of the #indifesa campaign aimed at girls. Conceived and curated by Renata Ferri, with photographs by Ilaria Magliocchetti Lombi, the project lasted three years including research, interviews and photographic filming. After a first stop at Maxxi in Rome, it now arrives in Milan, in the spaces of Cathedral at the Fabbrica del Vapore from 14 February to 17 March. An immersive journey of black and white portraits accompanied by the audio of the protagonists’ voices to inspire the women and men of tomorrow.
A special appointment for iO Donna readers
Exclusively for readers of iODonna.it we have reserved guided tours with the photographers and the curator of the exhibition Renata Ferri.
March 5: guided tour with the photographer 20 people (sign up here)
March 7: guided tour with the curator Renata ferri per 20 people + a special portrait session with the photographer (sign up here)
March 10: only guided tour with the photographer 20 people (sign up here)
Please register for only one session each. Those who register for multiple sessions will only be accredited for the first in chronological order, for example if you register for both the 5th and the 7th, you will only be accredited for the 5th session. For each session you will be accredited Accredit the first 20 people based on the order in which requests arrive. I am who is accredited you will receive a confirmation email
Milan, city of women
“Straordinarie” kicks off the Milan city of women project of the Municipality of Milan which sees the metropolis involved in a series of initiatives concentrated at the Fabbrica del Vapore, which will become the nerve center of the action aimed at
to gender issues. With the “Straordinarie” exhibition, a schedule of meetings, talks, shows and films will enliven the spaces of via Procaccini until March 17th.
iO Donna, Corriere della Sera and 27a Ora are media partners of the initiative together with Urban Vision. Deloitte Foundation and Deloitte are main sponsors of the initiative which also benefits from the contribution of the Bracco Foundation and Canon Italia as cultural partners. The book Straordinarie is published by Silvana Editoriale.
iO Donna © ALL RIGHTS RESERVED