On March 22, the large anthological exhibition dedicated to Ferdinando Scianna will open to the public on the Piano Nobile of Palazzo Reale in Milan, enriched for the occasion with two important unpublished sections, one dedicated to Leonardo Sciascia and the other, the "Bibliography", which presents a selection of Scianna's books, from the first, “Religious Feasts in Sicily”, which has become rare and precious over time, up to the very latest publications.

The two were friends for life as evidenced by more than a thousand photographs, mostly unpublished, taken in the summers in Racalmuto and in their numerous trips together. A family album that portrays Sciascia in a private dimension because "until he did me the terrible offense of dying, he remained my paternal angel". It was a fundamental relationship in the life of Ferdinando Scianna who writes: "friendship is like an exchange of the keys of the respective individual citadels, it is the acquisition of the reciprocal right to use each other's eyes, mind, heart" . A small part of these photos have become a book: "Scianna fotografa Sciascia" (1989) that the writer was able to see shortly before his death.

With over 200 black and white photographs printed in different formats, the exhibition spans the entire career of the great Sicilian photographer and develops along an articulated narrative path, built on different chapters and various methods of preparation.

Ferdinando Scianna is one of the masters of photography not only in Italy. He began to be passionate about this language in the 1960s, narrating through images the culture and traditions of his region of origin, Sicily. His long artistic career unfolds through various themes - current affairs, war, travel, popular religiosity - all linked by a single thread: the constant search for a form in the chaos of life.

In over 50 years of stories, there is certainly no lack of suggestions: from Bagheria to the Bolivian Andes, from religious festivals - the beginning of his career - to his experience in the world of fashion, which began with Dolce & Gabbana and Marpessa. Then the reportages (he is the first Italian to be part of the famous photo journalistic agency Magnum since 1982), the landscapes, his thematic obsessions such as mirrors, animals, things. Finally, the portraits of his great friends, masters of the world of art and culture such as Henri Cartier-Bresson, Jorge Louis Borges and in particular Leonardo Sciascia, to whom an entire and unpublished section of the exhibition is reserved which, with the "Bibliography ”, Dedicated to his numerous books, enriches and completes an exhibition system conceived before the pandemic in the Milanese headquarters of Palazzo Reale.

In this Journey Tale Memory, in addition to the presence of some of his most important books browsable on the monitor, the visitor is accompanied in the various sections by an audio guide (available in Italian and English, included in the admission ticket), in which Ferdinando Scianna he tells firsthand his way of understanding photography, stories and anecdotes from his career as a photographer and his life. A real parallel story, to get to know his artistic and human path up close. 

promoted by Comune di Milano – Cultura, Palazzo Reale e Civita Mostre e Musei

curated by Paola Bergna, Denis Curti, Alberto Bianda - Art Director

catalog of Marsilio Editore