“Changes” photo exhibit inaugurated in St. Peter’s Square
Inaugurated on May 7 in the Charlemagne colonnade of Saint Peter's Square, the photo exhibition organized by Lia and Marianna Beltrami with the Dicastery for Communication presents 24 works by artists from the peripheries of the world accompanied by verses from the Song of the Creatures of Saint Francis. .
By Maria Milvia Morciano
The inauguration of the photographic exhibition “Changes” took place on May 7 in Saint-Pierre Square. The exhibition is organized by Lia and Marianna Beltrami in collaboration with the Dicastery for Communication, the Dicastery for the Promoter of Integral Human Development and the Laudato Si' Center for Higher Education.
The exhibition presents 24 photograms by artists from the peripheries of the whole world – Bangladesh, Ethiopia, Amazonia, Florida, Greece, Italy, Iceland, Australia, Turkey – associated with verses from the Canticle of the Creatures of Saint Francis. The intense colors of the works highlight the beauty of the planet but also, almost paradoxically, its wounds also caused by destructive and frenzied human processes.
The initiative came in response to the call of Pope Francis in his Apostolic Exhortation Laudate Deum when he warns of the imminent dangers of climate change, which will soon be irreversible: “We will feel the effects in the areas of health, sources of employment, access to resources, housing, forced migration… ”
The “Changes” exhibition was also exhibited during the Synod from October 2 to 27, 2023 with a selection of 15 still images presented in the Vatican press room, then at COP28 in Dubai from November 30 to December 13, 2023. The exhibition is part of the project. “Emotions to generate change.”
Art generates change
In an interview with Vatican News, Italian curator Lia Beltrami said the exhibition reflects a journey now in its third phase, which aims to “put art at the service of the change that Pope Francis has always called for , whether in his encyclical Laudato si', in Fratelli tutti or in Laudate Deum, this idea of change has been interpreted by photographers from all over the world, some having had to escape ordeals. Artists include Neşe Arı, Raffaele Merler. , Giampaolo Calzà, Franco Giovanazzi, Vassilis Ikoutas, Asaf Ud Daula, Sebastiano Rossitto, Ferran Paredes Rubio and Francesca Larrain.
“In the first exhibition we interpreted the words of Pope Francis Laudato si'the second featured the women's cry, which is part of Fratelli Tutti. And in this third and final edition, we focus on the theme of climate change and its consequences on individuals and society,” explains Beltrami. The words of Saint Francis accompany the photographs. The media used are also important. They are made from wood salvaged following a major storm that hit the autonomous province of Trento in Italy, which otherwise would have been thrown away and were used to create the photo panels.
A photograph from the exhibition “Changes”
Photos that speak
When asked if it's true that all art in general can be shaped, but photography always captures the truth, writer-director Lia Beltrami responds that “it tells the truth and it speaks.” The eyes of the people represented tell stories, and we have always tried to ensure that in each shot the path of a journey is visible, that of social change, there is a change in the photographer, a change in the person or situation represented by the photograph, such as, for example, the photo of. indigenous woman in the Amazon or the nuns of Borneo. We made sure that each one was a story of change. So it’s not just about photography, but about photography and social change,” concludes Lia Beltrami.
Protagonists of change
The prefect of the Dicastery for Communication, Paolo Ruffini, inaugurating the exhibition, highlighted the importance of this initiative “because it combines words with images and thus seeks to move hearts to a greater awareness of way in which the care of our common home, which is the earth, concerns our personal life and in some way also our relationships. It is an awareness, he explains, which triggers a conversion which must occur in us. Usually we tend to see bad things as happening externally. us, and we stand by as spectators. These images push us to become protagonists of change. This is why we care so much about this project.
The images and words in these photos inspire and amaze. “As Pope Francis says,” observes Paolo Ruffini, “the feeling of astonishment is something that we have unfortunately lost in our time, we have lost the capacity to be impressed by things and to observe them, which in a way really challenges us by them. We behave as if we have already seen everything and in reality then, we end up seeing nothing, it is to see and also to be seen. by others.
