Professor Guzzi, when did you decide that Conflenti would be the focal point of your photographic exhibition?
I have always photographed the surrounding world to capture and make eternal moments, glimpses, expressions to share them with those whom I felt closest to me by affinity. Later the search for details, which enrich the reality around us often ignored for unwanted distraction, led me to make them public to give them the importance they deserve.
This exhibition aimed to convey my emotions through a personal propensity towards "details". The reality of Conflenti has been re-proposed through various facets aimed at the search for the essential. The gesture that accompanies the passage of the Madonna della Quercia di Visora during the procession is therefore essential and profound, the flower revives ancient walls, the alleys guard memories, the landscapes testify to how much the concept of "sublime" in its meaning is always present and never waned. more romantic and philosophical.
I have chosen the subjects that have thrilled and amazed me, and I have re-proposed them through their innate positive message. In each shot there is the feeling without rules or limitations born when I looked for a real stillness usually disturbed by the chaos of the city
Why did you choose the title "Enchantment beyond the gaze"?
I thought of describing a place not only with words but with a look.
We can tell of lights and shadows, of voices and silences, of quick steps and peaceful rests because an ancient amazement always hides in the shadow of distant beauties, and awaits, quietly, someone who notices and takes care of it. It would be easier for human thoughts to linger where the enchantment rests, and to see, between imperceptible breaths of wind and delicate rays of sun, that part of reality that gladdens and consoles everything. The title therefore comes from a state of mind that I felt a few years ago while walking through the alleys of Conflenti, a state of mind that never changes but is continually revived by new wonders and amazements. Conflenti presented itself to my eyes as the destination of numerous pilgrimages to the sanctuary of the Madonna della Quercia; still today, as in the past, it attracts many faithful. It was a constant surprise to discover beauties of all kinds that were the setting for an already important religious and historical reality. Breathtaking views, portals of ancient memory, churches "hidden" among the houses, windows of abandoned buildings from which you could see the sky instead of the roof, balconies and flowered windows and finally a human "beauty" that made and makes my research and my journey even more pleasant and interesting.
The exhibition will remain available to the public until April 12 at the headquarters of the Cultural Association "Altrove" in Lamezia Terme, and after? Will it be a traveling exhibition?
My exhibition, or rather my "photographic story", has already been proposed in the last months of July and August in the Church of the Immaculate Conception in Conflenti within the program of "Felici & Conflenti" (stage of traditional dances and music of the Area del Reventino). The exhibition was considered by me to be a tribute and a thank you to the entire community for the beauty and generosity given to me over the years. From the parish priest Don Adamo Castagnaro, always available and attentive, I was given the opportunity to take advantage of the suggestive church dating back to the mid-600th century, as a suitable place to host the photographic event, and therefore make it known or revisited to the numerous tourists or emigrants. present in those particular periods of the year in Conflenti.
Is there anything that you think it is possible to do to combat the increasingly violent abandonment that grips Conflenti, as well as many other small towns, whose artistic culture and whose history is thus in danger of disappearing?
One reacts to abandonment by rewriting and repopulating it with new ideas and renewed love for one's past, with the awareness that every reality always has messages to spread. We must not resign ourselves to oblivion and silence, but to benefit from them and find a way to be reborn.
The importance towards history and art should be cultivated within the schools where future generations are formed. The last governments, however, have drastically reduced the teaching of the History of Art, causing a general impoverishment of knowledge and reducing the possibility of acquiring useful skills for the future. Often it is not the new generations who neglect art and the usefulness that its knowledge could bring, but the institutions that underestimate how much Italy is the holder of one of the richest historical and artistic heritage in the world, which should be valued and appreciated. protected from north to south. In our own small way we art history teachers try to do as much as possible even in extra-school hours so that the students try a meaningful approach towards the different historical-artistic realities and from these develop a propensity towards the appreciation and recovery of local realities .
Do you already know which center will be the next to visit and revive through your images?
My research will continue in the future towards that essentiality which is typical of the most intimate and true realities. I could mention specific places like Squillace, Cleto, Taverna, Rossano to visit with even more enthusiasm and attention. Calabria is an extraordinary region that we should get to know before traveling to more distant places. We have an artistic / cultural past that we should appreciate and value to make it known, with pride, outside our regional borders.
Ultimately what message do you want to launch with your photographs?
I have always had a curious look at things, and photography has helped me to focus carefully on what surrounded me.
I cannot deny that the love for art helps me to see things in a different way and from another perspective. For example, an alley with abandoned houses is not simply what it appears, but a set of architectures created and lived in the course of past times. These alleys still release their artistic and architectural value, witness of a past that is being lost. The portals, the pilasters, the decorated keystones, still existing and visible, make these streets come alive, enveloping them in a particular and suggestive charm. The same could be said for churches, squares, or any other artistic reality present in the small town of Conflenti. Nothing is ever what it seems. We must learn to go beyond the apparent reality. For this reason, every day I teach my students to cultivate the love for beauty in its infinite facets and to "know how to see" with objective eyes what they encounter on their path.
Valentina Dattilo
http://percezionidiluce.altervista.org/