The art within the art. The tower erected in the heart of the new Milanese district of City Life, which speaks of the future of the city and which has been designed by architect Zaha Hadid, will host from 8 October to 15 November the photographs of Stefano Guindani, an internationally renowned artist who deals with fashion, landscapes and reportage. The Hadid Tower is the home of Banca Generali.
And it is precisely the bank, together with the FAI – Fondo Ambientale Italiano – who thought about it to the photo exhibition “Hidden wonders” as a moment of celebration of the beauty of the Italian artistic and cultural heritage and which allows the public to admire some of the most beautiful historic buildings, villas and churches of the peninsula. The photographic work was carried out in eight days and takes up FAI offices in northern Italy.
“For six years we have had the good fortune to be alongside the FAI to experience the spring days together and with this exhibition we hope to continue to inspire curiosity and attention to the extraordinary work of the Fondo Ambiente Italiano and the wonderful sites it holds and hosts. Heritage must be protected, valued and handed down to the new generations”, commented Andrea Ragaini, Deputy General Manager of Banca Generali.
The collaboration between Guindani and Banca Generali is recent: it began last spring on the occasion of the FAI days. Through photography, considered a tool capable of providing a different and original key to understanding, the photographer has imprisoned in his shots squares, museums, archaeological sites that the author himself knew little about.
It was a journey of discovery among the beauties of Italy: “A few years ago, the text explaining FAI's mission was rewritten. If in point one we read the commitment to take care of our assets and pass on the heritage to future generations, in point two a second point was added which says that FAI promotes love, knowledge and enjoyment of the environment , the landscape and the historical and artistic heritage of the nation. We Italians are our heritage”, said Angelo Maramai, general director of the FAI.
The project was developed between Banca Generali, the FAI and Stefano Guindani, for which the protection and enhancement of heritage they are a natural fact: “The relationship between Italy and culture is not as linear as it should be. We are the first country in the world for UNESCO sites together with China, we are the fifth most visited country with over 60 million visitors every year, but in recent years investments - both public and private - for the protection of our artistic and cultural heritage have almost halved and the enhancement has remained the responsibility of entities such as the FAI which are too often alone in this challenge”, continued Ragaini.
Among the places that visitors to the exhibition will come across are: theAbbey of San Fruttuoso in Camogli, Piazza Sant'Alessandro in Milan, the Castle of Avio in Trento. Stefano Guindani recalled his journey as follows: “each of these possessions carries with it many stories, some have their hidden ghosts. The description of San Fruttuoso is beautiful when they say that it can be reached by two steep paths, but you can also get there by boat as the pirates did. I wanted to build something that would give everyone the idea of a dream, of a dreamlike discovery of something exclusive, I always look for a recipe of geometric lines that lead to harmony, a beauty to convey to those who look at my images”.
