ONCE AGAIN THIS YEAR, THE CARTHUSIAN MONASTERY OF FERRARA IS PART OF THE INTERNATIONAL INITIATIVES PROMOTED BY ASCE, THE EUROPEAN NETWORK FOR THE ENHANCEMENT OF SIGNIFICANT CEMETERIES: “Oltre “-THE PHOTOGRAPHIC EXHIBITION BY MICHELE BALUGANI-WILL BE AT THE CARTHUSIAN MONASTERY FROM MAY 30 TO NOVEMBER 6, 2022.
Ferrara, May 30, 2022
Starts today – May 30 – the Week of Discovery of European Cemeteries 2022 promoted by ASCE, the international network for the enhancement of significant cemeteries: for the occasion Holding Ferrara Servizi has opened at the Certosa di Ferrara a free photo exhibition, which can be visited until November 6, 2022.
The exhibition ‘Oltre’, by Ferrara photographer Michele Balugani, pays homage in 16 works to some of the most significant funerary monuments in the city’s monumental cemetery through the prominence of light and shadow, faces and unseen details.
The initiative, sponsored by the Municipality of Ferrara and the Ferrara Arte Foundation, was curated and organized by Holding Ferrara Servizi in collaboration with ASCE (Association of Significant Cemeteries of Europe) and the Utilitalia-Sefit Technical Table for the historical-artistic enhancement of Italian monumental cemeteries. The week of international events will involve 180 other historic cemeteries in 22 countries.
Opening the exhibition, along with Holding Ferrara Servizi President Luca Cimarelli, were Ferrara City Councilor for Culture Marco Gulinelli and Ferrara Arte Foundation President Vittorio Sgarbi.
“The exhibition fits perfectly within the scope of the activities that the Holding Company is developing, and has developed, to promote the city’s Monumental Cemetery at the tourist level, always safeguarding what remains the primary function of the place,” President Cimarelli introduced . The Carthusian Monastery obviously remains the site at which to remember loved ones, and should be managed as such, but in recent months we are seeing a consistent increase in guided tours, among schoolchildren and tourists, to what we call the city’s largest open-air museum.”
“Reaching the Certosa a short while ago by car,” intervenes Vittorio Sgarbi, “I was reading a speech by Mauro Felicori, regional councillor for culture and landscape, who calls for turning cemeteries into museums, something we have always thought about. Our operation is perfectly in line with what he states.”
“Our wonderful Monumental Cemetery is a reminder of eternal beauty,” concluded Councillor Gulinelli. Thanks must be given to the Holding Company, which is implementing the cultural path in the spirit of promoting our Charterhouse. Beyond artistic connotations there is the maintenance of memory, both historical and affective: our cemetery monument is a unique work of art and should be considered as such. As for the exhibition, I really love the ability of photographer Michele Balugani to transcend the meaning of photography itself by going after that specific characteristic of it, which is silence, the incipit of wisdom, and to succeed in conveying its essence. Beyond the significance of the ‘flatness’ of photography, Balugani gives three-dimensionality to his shots in this beautiful homage to place.”
“What made me decide to undertake this three-year project is obviously the great love I have for my, ‘our’ Carthusian Monastery-the words of the author of the photographs Michele Balugani. This, for us in Ferrara, is considered not only as a cemetery in the strict sense but also as a monument located in the center of the city. In this sense much is being done and has been done by Holding Ferrara Servizi, in agreement with the Municipal Administration, and I would like to congratulate them; in my own small way with this exhibition I have tried to make a contribution.”
Thus, the photo exhibition is in addition to the many actions implemented by Holding in recent years to Enhance the historical and artistic heritage of the monumental Charterhouse: tour routes, maps, guided tours, evening concerts and a first at dawn, architectural lighting, videos and short films, projects on digital channels, publications, apps, not forgetting the new signage inside the Charterhouse.
The exhibition is free and open access during cemetery opening hours. The works are arranged in the tenements facing Certosa Square, in front of the First and Second Grand Clausters.
For info: www.certosadiferrara.it
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