The exhibition Harari. Italians. Great Protagonists between the Twentieth and Twentieth Centuries is coming to the Ferrero Foundation in Alba from April 5th to May 26th.
The exhibition features 74 photographs portraying a series of Italian figures from various fields (music, literature, culture, customs, art, science, sport, design, fashion) who have made our country great in the world.
Harari. Italians is an ongoing journey that the photographer has been cultivating for over thirty years, unfolding through the faces and stories of a selection of figures who have left and are still leaving their mark on Italian history.
Following the events of the major anthological exhibition “Incontri” in Ancona, Ferrara, and Milan, this new photographic project by Guido Harari arrives in Alba in a new guise, which also includes the screening of the documentary “Guido Harari. Sguardi randagi” (Italy, 2023, 52 minutes), directed by Daniele Cini. “The documentary recounts the life and art of one of the greatest contemporary Italian photographers, a master of musical portraits. Anyone who thinks of an iconic image of Lou Reed or David Bowie, Frank Zappa or Kate Bush, or of Italians Giorgio Gaber, Fabrizio de André, Vasco Rossi, or Gianna Nannini, is likely thinking of a photograph by Guido Harari,” as can be heard in the video.
The idea for the project arose from Harari’s meeting with journalist Beppe Severgnini, when in the late 1990s he launched the RAI program “Italians, cioè italiani,” where he interviewed thirty Italian personalities, each world-famous in their field.
Each of them agreed to pose after filming on the set Harari had set up in the RAI studio. Among them were Umberto Eco, Dario Fo, Gina Lollobrigida, Alberto Tomba, Gae Aulenti, Krizia, and many others.
Over the years, the project has continued to evolve into a veritable archive of historical figures who have changed the face of Italy, as well as brilliant young people betting on the future. Harari’s choral portrait extends to figures such as Alda Merini, who welcomes the photographer into her apartment on the Navigli; Gianni Agnelli, who recounts his encounter with Andy Warhol; Ennio Morricone, who suggests being portrayed hidden behind a door, leaving only his glasses floating in mid-air visible; Nicolò Govoni and Bebe Vio, two young people who fight every day to build a different and better society.
With spontaneity and mastery, Harari captures the essence of the subjects in his photographs, and with the exhibition Harari. Italians, he explores portraiture as a tool for investigating others.
Guido Harari explains: “In portraits, as in life, the right moment comes suddenly. There’s a peak in attention during a shoot. In a progression that leads us to immerse ourselves in another world, a maximum level of concentration and emotion is produced and sustained. Soon the silence of telepathic, non-verbal communication sets in. A non-intellectual, totally emotional mode of encounter.”
Harari. Italians brings to Alba the most recent evolution of an ongoing creative project of historical memory, where the challenge of dialogue between author and subject continues through every single shot, and faces from the past are joined by those of new generations in a highly personal tale of recent and contemporary Italian history.
The exhibition is accompanied by an album, a preview of the volume to be published at the end of the year by Rizzoli Lizard Editore. This album, in addition to photographic documentation of the exhibition, brings together contributions by Guido Harari and Beppe Severgnini.
The exhibition will be open to the public with free admission: Thursday and Friday 3-7 pm, Saturday and Sunday 10 am-1 pm and 3-7 pm.
As many of you know, the Magic Cave project has suffered a setback due to two injuries suffered by Guido in November 2023 and February 2024.
We are aware and grateful that many people are eagerly awaiting the reopening of the Magic Cave. We are considering organizing one soon in Alba during the opening of the Harari. Italians exhibition, but at a location outside the Ferrero Foundation, and then in Milan in the fall.
The Magic Cave is a photography set where, by reservation, anyone can have their portrait taken by Guido Harari and receive a 33x48cm Fine Art print of their portrait, signed and dedicated by the artist. A low-resolution file of the photograph will also be emailed for social media use.