The Mimetic Observer: A visual reading on Dante’s Divine Comedy.

The Mimetic Observer: A visual reading on Dante’s Divine Comedy. 

LINK TO IMAGES OF THE EXHIBITION

Thursday 30 March to Thursday April 19, 2023. Location:  the former Church of the Zitelle at the ICCD, the photographic exhibition: The Mimetic Observer – a visual reading on Dante’s Divine Comedy, curated by Peter Lang and Alessandro Coco with the coordination of Giorgio Di Noto, opens to the public. The exhibition features 27 photographic works by Carlotta Valente, with the collaboration of Joaquin Paredes, on the theme of light and Dante’s imagery in the Divine Comedy.

Launched on the occasion of the 700th anniversary of Dante
Alighieri’s death, the project is the result of a profound analysis and
reflection that involved various experts and scholars as well as
photography experts from the ICCD and looks at the world of the Poet
in a completely new way: it focuses on the objects, landscapes and
other natural elements that Dante Alighieri deals with in his major
works. The luminous and photographic narrative comes to life through
a meticulous reconstruction of images and optical illusions from the
three Canticles, with the aid of early analogue photographic
processes.
The works on display have become part of the contemporary
photography collections of the ICCD and are enclosed in a volume
named after the exhibition, published by Viaindustriae Publishing,
which is the result of extensive research into typographic printing
materials and techniques.
The project was supported by the National Committee for the
celebrations of the 700th anniversary of Dante Alighieri’s death. The
photographs of the animals were realised thanks to the collaboration
of the Civic Museum of Zoology in Rome.

ICCD Istituto Centrale per il Catalogo e la Documentazione. 

Video by Stefano Ribaldi, The Mimetic Observer, a visual reading on Dante’s Divine Comedy.