Tribute to Italo Calvino at the Alinari Museum

FLORENCE, ITALY – Presented last July at the Rencontres d’Arles 2012, the exhibition is curated by Christophe Berthoud who, inspired by the work of one of the greatest novelists of the twentieth century, Italo Calvino, has drawn from and used the Alinari Archives as an inexhaustible reservoir of stories and imagery. The exhibit will run until January 6, in Florence, Italy.

In the exhibition, recalling the combinatorial device which Calvino used in his collection of short stories The Castle of Crossed Destinies, Berthoud does justice to the enormous wealth of the Alinari archives and their kaleidoscopic appearance, showing a great variety of themes and genres of photography which tell the story of art, society and Italian customs in the late nineteenth century and the first quarter of the twentieth century.

In The Castle of Crossed Destinies Calvino, by associating narrative code to iconic tarot cards, tells the stories of some lost travellers who find refuge first in a castle, then in a tavern. Here, mysteriously deprived of the use of words, and having no other option, they begin to tell stories using the 78 cards in a Marseille tarot deck of cards. Calvino uses the Tarot de Marseille as a mechanism through which to tell stories.

In the exhibition presented at MNAF and dedicated to the activity of the Alinari brothers, Calvino’s game continues in the exhibition space. Using a combinatorial system inspired by that of Calvino, Berthoud has combined the author’s stories with select images from the Alinari Archives.

Interpreting Calvino’s rule, the editor supports the Alinari photographs with images of the Marseille Tarot. On the walls of the exhibition, Berthoud writes that “the photos are ordered according to a system of keywords and replace the literary narrative. The result may look like a puzzle, even a story board, without actually being similar to either of these two forms. It is an illustration without text, the echo of a photographic story inspired by symbols.” The resulting exhibition is divided into seven parts, just as there were seven stories in Calvino’s collection.

Including both original prints and vintage modern reproductions from the original negatives on glass plate, the exhibition consists of 90 photographs that pay homage to the variety and richness of the Alinari archives, retracing their 160-year history. The Alinari archives continue today to play a leading role in the world of photography, publishing fine books, housing a photography museum and archives, including digital works, and preserving many important photographic collections from the thirties. The Alinari archives preserve and represent over a century of Italian history and all fields of photographic work.

For the exhibition ‘Alinari Archives and syntax of the world. Tribute to Italo Calvino’, the teaching department of MNAF has organised photo-stories in tribute to Calvino – an animated tour through the exhibition aimed at families and schools, to explore the narrative capabilities of photography, led by the ‘invisible’ presence of Italo Calvino. The visits will take place during the exhibition period at MNAF and, for schools, also in the classroom. The complete schedule of MNAF events will be posted on the museum’s website and Facebook page. Educational activities that take place at MNAF last about an hour, have limited seating and reservations are required. For info and prices: tel. 055216310 – email: [email protected].

MNAF: Florence, piazza S. M. Novella 14a r, 055.216310, fax 055.2646990, [email protected]

OPENING TIME: Every day 10,00 – 18,30, SATURDAY: 10 – 22.30, CLOSED WEDNESDAY

TICKETS: Full price € 9,00; Concession € 7,50; Conventions € 6,00; Schools € 4,00; Children under 5 are free