Josef Koudelka. Radici (Roots)

The work presented, is the result of a unique project, which lasted thirty years, and was carried out exploring and portraying with tenacity and continuity some of the most representative and important archaeological sites in the Mediterranean.

The extraordinary black and white shots presented in the exhibition are taken by the Czech photographer between Syria, Greece, Turkey, Lebanon, Cyprus, Israel, Jordan, Egypt, Libya, Tunisia, Algeria, Morocco, Portugal, Spain, France, Albania, Croatia and of course, Italy. They accompany the visitor in an original and very personal reflection on the ancient, on the landscape, on the beauty that "arouses and nourishes thoughts". The timeless landscapes, rich in soul and charm, characterized by unstable, unexpected, ambivalent perspectives, well represent the visual lexicon and the stylistic signature of Koudelka who, avoiding the simple illustration and documentation of the ruins, chooses to give breath to what remains of the vestiges of the Mediterranean ancient civilizations, representing them in an eternal tension between what is visible and what remains hidden, between enigma and evidence.

Housed in the Ara Pacis Museum, in direct contact with the monumental testimonies of the great history of Rome, The retrospective Radici aims to be an exceptional journey into the work of one of the last great masters of modern photography who devoted himself to the search for the chaotic beauty of the ruins and ancient landscapes, transformed by time, by nature, by man. The photographs of Koudelka, exhibited in close dialogue with one of the most significant monuments of the early imperial age, thus acquire, on this special occasion, the unique, strong, value of memorable images, in an intense relationship of references and echoes of a memory that in Rome more than elsewhere, becomes present.

For more information about the exhibition we suggest you follow "Radici. Sguardi sulla mostra", four web conferences with the photographer Andrea Jemolo, the archaeologist Simone Foresta, the geographist Franco Farinelli and the archaeologist Emanuele Greco.

The retrospective is accompanied by the volume Radici published by Contrasto

Josef Koudelka. Radici

Josef Koudelka. Radici | Alessandra Mauro

Radici. Josef Koudelka | Roberto Koch

Radici. Josef Koudelka | Lucia Spagnuolo