CHILDREN OF THE ISLANDS - Presentation in Valdobbiadene

Within the context of a Festival called "Between Books and Thoughts-how to read changes", Sunday the 27th of November I presented officially a new project that is slowly taking shape. Thanks to the Borough of Valdobbiadene (TV), I will exhibit a series of 25 pictures, as well as a short documentary, at "Villa dei Cedri" in April 2023. My hope is that this will spark a new life into the work of a dear friend of mine Malcolm Ryen with whom I spent a bit of time in a true paradise on earth. Following a few chats with the councilor for culture of the municipality of Valdobbiadene (TV), Giorgia Falcade, I was delighted to see that she was really happy to help me put this exhibit together. The project is about a small archipelago in the Indian Ocean south of Zanzibar (Unguja) called SongoSongo. Here lives a Matumbi Tribe that is made of Fishermans and their children..

CHILDREN OF THE ISLANDS

After I met Malcolm (2017/2018) I was so lucky to spend time on this archipelago and especially in one of the 5 small islands that compose it. It was an amazing time right out of a movie scene. I decided to put toghether a "visual" story that would tell about Malcolm´s work here, during the course of a few years, and that would enphasize the importance of passing on knowledge and responsibility to young generation as well as the old ones.

Knowledge about our environment and responsibility toward all the living species that inhabitate it. Malcolm spent his time there teaching the locals with the help of a nearby Island called Fanjove,  the importance of "conscious" fishing and the graveness and distructiveness of using aggressive methods such as fishing with Dinamite. Fanjove, although smaller than the main Island SongoSongo, was the perfect set for a school "hands-on" with an incredibly beautful "scene". He contributed to he implementation of the first BMU´s (Beach Management Units) in Tanzania and possibily in the whole of Africa and achived a great result when these were approved even by the government. On top of all that he also involved them in the "cleaning" of the plastic littering the sea and the restoration of the Coral Reef (approx 10/12km) that is just a short distance from the archipelago.

RICHNESS IS WHITIN

  

Everything revolves around the work that Malcolm did with these people and at the same time expressing the concept of "Richness" and "Poverty".A concept I will try to evidentiate by putting in contrast some shots of Songosongo and of the kids living in Zanzibar in a more Urban Context but at the same time in the same paradisiac ocean. It´s amazing when you look at the smiles of these children and when you see their eyes gazing at the wonders that our planets offers us. It is even better when you realize that all the money and wealth of the earth will never be able to buy such "looks" and emotions.

A CONTAMINATION OF IDEAS

The official presentation of the project happened at the Auditorium of palazzo Piva in Valdobbiadene with the Help Of Laura Moro, Dancer and choreographer and Matteo Cusinato, Musician. They presented “Legno - variazioni su Vaia” a dialogue between music, dance and nature, in the context of Tellurica, a project curated by the artistic collective Art(h)emigra Satellite. It was the perfect prologue to a short talk I gave to the public present in the hall about the importance of caring for our earth and it´s "salt" .. it´s people... While presenting the exhibit to come. The actual Exhibit will be at the "Ex-Opificio" in "Villa dei cedri" and you can read about the location on a previous article of mine, HERE: http://www.2picture.me/en/blog-news/a-disegnar-le-vigne-on-the-prosecco-hills 

BIGGER PLANS

It is my hope that this project with the patronage of the municipality of Valdobbiadene And of the Consultation for Culture, will set good roots from here to April and that it will allow me to contribute and to repay the time I was in this Paradise, by putting toghether a few sponsors that will enable the work that Malcolm did, during the years he was there, to carry on once again. I will tell you about the details in a few articles I will share during the next few weeks/months, while I will attempt to coordinate efforts with Malcolm in Tanzania and with the Ambassador of Zanzibar (Unguja) in Rome, Mahmoud Thabit Kombo.  

HERE ia a PDF (ONLY FOR DESKTOP VIEWING) outlining some of the aspects of the Idea(you can pick up a paper copy at the municipality if you live nearby) and I will share more of this in the weeeks and months to come. If you find this interesting or even better exciting, feel free to drop me a message on info@2picture.me for any questions or suggestions you might have and for sure leave a like or follow my page on FB: https://www.facebook.com/2picture/ to keep up with updates on the OPENING AND DETAILS OF THE EVENT (exact date to be decided)