On 24 August 2016, the first of a series of seismic events that hit central Italy until the beginning of 2017 occurred. On that day, the first strong earthquake of magnitude 6 occurred between Accumoli, in the province of Rieti, and Arquata. del Tronto, in the province of Ascoli Piceno. In those months 303 people died, 383 were injured and about 41,000 lost their homes.
Since August 2016, the TerraProject collective of photographers has started a project to document the places hit by the earthquake, from Amatrice to Accumoli, in Lazio, up to the municipalities of the Marche region. The idea was born thanks to the commission of the newspaper la Repubblica which initially asked TerraProject to create a photo shoot a month, for a year. The goal was not to stop at the limited story of the moments after the earthquake but to stay in those places and observe the resistance of the citizens and the reconstruction of the territories.
For five years Michele Borzoni, Simone Donati, Pietro Paolini and Rocco Rorandelli have followed people’s stories through the rhythm of the seasons and the return to everyday life. It is not the first time that the collective documents the consequences of earthquakes in Italy: Friuli, Sicily, L’Aquila, different places but of a single country that every time seems to repeat the same mistakes.
The exhibition was born from the project Of seeds and stones. Journey into the rebirth of a territory, set up in open spaces located between Amatrice and Accumoli and curated by Giulia Ticozzi, in collaboration with the Lazio region and the municipalities involved. The route, divided into seven stages, can be visited until 5 September.
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