The Italian Cultural Institute of Tokyo is presenting the photographic exhibition “L’immagine dell’empresente. Il Sud Italia nella fotografia di Fosco Maraini. 1946-1956” (The image of the empresente. Southern Italy in the Photography of Fosco Maraini. 1946-1956) in its exhibition spaces. The exhibition is curated by Francesco Paolo Campione, with scientific coordination by Moira Luraschi and set design by Marta Santi.
The photographic work of Fosco Maraini, renowned anthropologist, orientalist, and one of Italy’s leading experts on Japanese culture, returns to the Institute ten years after “L’incanto delle donne del mare” (The Enchantment of the Women of the Sea), a reportage dedicated to the pearl divers (ama) in the islands of Hekura and Mikuriya off the coast of the Noto Peninsula.
This exhibition, however, reveals Maraini as a portraitist of Italy, particularly Southern Italy in the immediate post-war period. The photographs, to use a neologism coined by Maraini himself, are images “carpite all’empresente“—images captured in that unique moment when the eye is able to perceive the movements of the heart and soul. The 58 works on display in Tokyo are divided into three sections: “Le nuvole” (The Clouds), “Nostro Sud” (Our South), and “I mosaici di Monreale” (The Mosaics of Monreale).
The exhibition catalogue, published for the occasion by the Institute, includes texts in both Italian and Japanese, featuring a selection of the exhibited photographs, accompanied by an essay by the curator, Francesco Paolo Campione, and an introduction to the three sections.
The exhibition, located in the Institute’s Exhibition Hall, will be open to the public until May 19.
