Where fruits will grow
16 October 2018
“Where fruits will grow” is a work created by Olmo Amato, selected by the Biennale MArteLive and awarded by Fondazione CON IL SUD for visual arts. The work is exhibited at the Centro Polifunzionale Padre Pino Puglisi in Polistena (Rc). Within the Biennale, Guido Astolfi has also been awarded by Fondazione CON IL SUD, he made the illustration of the event “WITH THE SOUTH, THE BEFORE AND THE AFTER #changingwithcare”.
“The idea was born after my visit to the multi-purpose centre “Padre Pino Puglisi” in Polistena, and the agricultural lands concerned by the project Mestieri Legali of the Consorzio Macramé in Rosarno. Both places have a past of violence and devastation, neglect and abandonment. I saw the pictures of the lands after they were confiscated, before waste was removed. It was a landfill where debris and scraps of any kind dragged by the river were left there to pollute. After I met the operators and the young involved in the project and listened to their stories, I started collecting photographic material on the spot with the idea of realising a thematic digital work. Subsequently, I put together my shots with a number of photos of the area before the interventions. The goal was to represent a fresh look at that land, and to try to convey its evolution over time with one picture. A space opening up in the shrubs recalls the shape of an eye and shows a pathway, a different perspective where to look at. In an open field, beyond the briers, where only neglected inhospitable soil was left once, a small lemon shrub grows, a hope bound to grow over time and to donate its fruits. That nature – the guardian of memories – wounded by the traces of a past passed by under the thumb of the underworld can still tell a story of change. Those who are far-sighted can still change the course of events and re-write a story with a happy ending. “Where fruits will grow” is a tribute to all those who day by day, in Calabria and the rest of Italy, struggle face to face against the Mafia – the “cancer” of this country. A wish to those who manage to requalify and enhance those “cursed” places with enthusiasm and energy, and return them to the community. May their vision help continue to leave that passage opened towards a better future made of hope, sharing and harmony”.
Dove i frutti cresceranno, © Olmo Amato
Olmo Amato (Rome, 1986) graduates in Neurobiology at “La Sapienza” University of Rome. Along with his university studies he devotes himself to photography and experimentation of various techniques and digital manipulation. As a photographer and professional videomaker he works in ine-art digital printing and post-production. In his works – almost entirely in Black and White – he often associates old pictures to his own photographs shot in different European countries. In 2015 writes and directs “The Bear Tales”, a film selected in several Italian and international film festivals. In 2018 is selected by the Biennale MArteLive and awarded by Fondazione CON IL SUD for visual arts.
“Where fruits will grow” is a work created by Olmo Amato, selected by the Biennale MArteLive and awarded by Fondazione CON IL SUD for visual arts. The work is exhibited at the Centro Polifunzionale Padre Pino Puglisi in Polistena (Rc). Within the Biennale, Guido Astolfi has also been awarded by Fondazione CON IL SUD, he made the illustration of the event “WITH THE SOUTH, THE BEFORE AND THE AFTER #changingwithcare”.
“The idea was born after my visit to the multi-purpose centre “Padre Pino Puglisi” in Polistena, and the agricultural lands concerned by the project Mestieri Legali of the Consorzio Macramé in Rosarno. Both places have a past of violence and devastation, neglect and abandonment. I saw the pictures of the lands after they were confiscated, before waste was removed. It was a landfill where debris and scraps of any kind dragged by the river were left there to pollute. After I met the operators and the young involved in the project and listened to their stories, I started collecting photographic material on the spot with the idea of realising a thematic digital work. Subsequently, I put together my shots with a number of photos of the area before the interventions. The goal was to represent a fresh look at that land, and to try to convey its evolution over time with one picture. A space opening up in the shrubs recalls the shape of an eye and shows a pathway, a different perspective where to look at. In an open field, beyond the briers, where only neglected inhospitable soil was left once, a small lemon shrub grows, a hope bound to grow over time and to donate its fruits. That nature – the guardian of memories – wounded by the traces of a past passed by under the thumb of the underworld can still tell a story of change. Those who are far-sighted can still change the course of events and re-write a story with a happy ending. “Where fruits will grow” is a tribute to all those who day by day, in Calabria and the rest of Italy, struggle face to face against the Mafia – the “cancer” of this country. A wish to those who manage to requalify and enhance those “cursed” places with enthusiasm and energy, and return them to the community. May their vision help continue to leave that passage opened towards a better future made of hope, sharing and harmony”.
Dove i frutti cresceranno, © Olmo Amato
Olmo Amato (Rome, 1986) graduates in Neurobiology at “La Sapienza” University of Rome. Along with his university studies he devotes himself to photography and experimentation of various techniques and digital manipulation. As a photographer and professional videomaker he works in ine-art digital printing and post-production. In his works – almost entirely in Black and White – he often associates old pictures to his own photographs shot in different European countries. In 2015 writes and directs “The Bear Tales”, a film selected in several Italian and international film festivals. In 2018 is selected by the Biennale MArteLive and awarded by Fondazione CON IL SUD for visual arts.
