Photographs from family albums recounting the history of the San Faustino district and images taken by three professionals describing how it is today make up the exhibition 'Sguardi civici' (Civic Glances), which opens on Friday 18 October, at 5pm, at Direzionale 70 in Modena 8in via Giardini 474).
The exhibition, which takes place "open air" in the spaces on the first floor of the Direzionale and on the Franco Cosimo Panini Terrace and can be visited until 18 January, displays historical photos from various funds and archives and images taken by residents who took part in the project by sending in their family photos to tell the story of the transformation of the San Faustino district, in the south-west of the city, which grew up around Via Giardini outside what was Porta San Francesco in the early 20th century, and which over the years has also seen the birth of futuristic buildings such as the Direzionale 70 and Modena Due complex.
Completing the exhibition are images of the neighbourhood as it is today taken over the summer by Chiara Fossati, Barbara Rossi and Martina Simonato, the three photographers who won the selection announced by the municipality as part of the 'Media Arts' project supported by the Fondazione di Modena.
The exhibition, realised in collaboration with the Polisportiva San Faustino, is part of the 'Sguardi Civici' project, promoted by the City Council in collaboration with the Biblioteca civica di arte e architettura Luigi Poletti (Luigi Poletti Civic Library of Art and Architecture), the Historical Archive, and the Fondazione Modena Arti Visive (Modena Visual Arts Foundation) within the framework of the activities of Modena Città Creativa Unesco for Media Arts, with the patronage of the Emilia-Romagna Region.
It is a project aimed at carrying out a historical, ethnographic and photographic survey of neighbourhoods to compose a map of the city over time, working on the dual level of urban history and Media Arts.
The first chapter of 'Civic gazes' focused on the city's historic centre, with a digital map of more than two thousand images, the result of photos taken by Paolo Monti in 1973, online on the platform https://monti.comune.modena.it.
