From the Gallerie d’Italia in Turin to Villa Bardini in Florence: social engagement in the photography of Lisetta Carmi
This is the first Florentine edition of the ‘Great Italian Photography’ project launched by the Turin-based Gallerie d’Italia, Intesa Sanapaolo’s own museum directed by Roberto Koch.
The exhibition, devoted to the great photographer Lisetta Carmi who died in the summer of 2022, explores her training as a pianist but also her brave decision to change career and set off down different pathways, and her determination to lend her voice to the underprivileged.
180 photographs taken over a 20-year career spanning the 1960s and ‘70s offer a comprehensive overview of her most important photographic projects.
This fascinating photographer, who survived racial persecution, turned her camera into a tool both for understanding the world and the human condition and for finding answers regarding herself in an effort to alleviate her own personal existential anguish.
The nine sections include one devoted specifically to the theme of labour. Pictures of the horrendous conditions suffered by Genoa’s dockers and by young girls working in the Calangianus cork factory in Sardinia join with the figure of the woman to play the leading role in this series of crude and disturbing images.
The exhibition devotes a considerable amount of space to a project she pursued over six years, involving assiduously frequenting the transvestite community in the old town of Genoa between 1965 and 1971 and upholding the right of each individual to determine his or her own gender identity.
The exhibition also includes a completely new section devoted to the flood in Florence in November 1966.
Exhibition information
“Lisetta Carmi. Suonare Forte – Playing Strong”, at the Villa Bardini in Florence from 3 May to 8 October, is curated by Giovanni Battista Martini, curator of the photographer’s personal archive.
Roberto Koch is a publisher, curator and photographer who organises cultural events celebrating great Italian photography of the 20th century. The exhibition in Florence is promoted by the Fondazione CR Firenze and the Parchi Monumentali Bardini e Peyron.
Hours and Tickets
The exhibition “Lisetta Carmi. Suonare forte” is open from May 3, 2023, to October 8, 2023, in the halls of Villa Bardini, in Florence.
Hours
From Tuesday to Sunday
(closed on Monday)
10:00 AM – 9:00 PM
Last admission at 8:00 PM.
Prices *
10 € full
5 € reduced
The ticket does not include admission to the Annigoni Museum (currently under preparation)
Villa Bardini,
Costa San Giorgio, 2-4 Firenze FI
Call center Firenze Musei
+39 055 2989816
eventi@villabardini.it
* Reduced € 5,00:
Young EU citizens aged 18 to 24, groups larger than 10 pax, Touring Club Italiano, FAI Fondo Ambiente It., Soci Coop, employees of Toscana Aeroporti, Soc. S. Giovanni Battista, FIAF Fed. It. Ass. Fotografiche, holders of a full-price ticket for the Boboli-Bardini Gardens, Cinema in Villa, and Musart Festival and 76th Estate Fiesolana performances, customers and employees of Banca Intesa Sanpaolo, and holders of a Gallerie d’Italia ticket.
* Free entry:
Children up to 17 years old, people with disabilities and their companions, journalists, tour guides, holders of the Firenze Card, school classes including two teachers only if they have a reservation at the call center 055/29.89.816 of Firenze Musei.