A photographic exhibition documenting the Italian lockdown is on show until the 1st November 2020 at the Palazzo dei Conservatori, Capitoline Museums, Rome. “Lockdown Italia – as seen by the Foreign Press” features a collection of photographs portraying crucial and significant aspects of the pandemic that hit Italy early this year – the first western country to bear the brunt of the Covid 19.
The images cover a wide range of themes, from the desperate fight to save lives in hospital intensive care departments, the eery atmosphere of deserted streets and piazzas, the sobering lines of coffins inside churches, the disinfecting of public transport and open spaces, theatre and cinema audiences conforming to the rules of social distancing and the many extraordinary gestures of generosity and support among the Italian populace.
The images captured are the work of 30 full or affiliated members of the Foreign Press Association in Italy (Associazione della Stampa Estera in Italia), many of whom took considerable personal risks by entering contaminated areas and hospital wards where the virus raged.
The exhibition preview was visited by the Italian Prime Minister, Giuseppe Conte, who remarked on the ability shown by the Italian people to unite in times of trouble, the unstinting generosity of both medical staff and volunteers and the many “silent heroes” who gave time and resources to help those in difficulty.
In the introduction to the exhibition catalogue, Trisha Thomas, President of the Foreign Press Association, praised the Italian government's handling of the pandemic: “Many of us come from countries that handled the virus differently, when bickering, lack of unity or arrogance got in the way of national good. Italy, instead, has emerged as a shining example and we, as the Stampa Estera, were here to show it to the world.....it was our job to go to the intensive care units, interview doctors and nurses, visit nursing homes and follow funerals.....we showed the world how Italy, its government and its people, were coping...”
Exhibition info: Tel.060608 www.museicapitolini.org/mostra-evento/lockdown
