ISLAM

photo exhibition by Anna Cutrone

S. Maria dello Spasimo, Palermo

October 26th – November 1st 2006

The long stay in various Islamic countries gave me the chance to prolong a research, at the time begun in certain African realities, on the daily life of peoples that for culture, religion and customs enter a purely Western concept of “diversity”. In my far-away adolescence, I too was fascinated by Shaharazad’s tales, just like king Shahriyar of the “Thousand and one nights”. When, after a series of circumstances, the maktub led me to Afghanistan, I was given another chance for the discovery of diversity. Yemen, Sudan, Algeria, Egypt, Jordan, Pakistan, Morocco, Libia (in their various aspects, from the environment to the people, from the markets to the “madrasa”) were the object of my research and, through the multiple experiences I lived in first person, satisfied the need for understanding that lay in my research. I had the luck to live in these countries, brought there by my profession and therefore outside of the so-called touristic circuits, in places and situations where the only true barrier was the language. Never did I encounter mistrust or intolerance for the specific condition of being a Western woman. Always, the first greeting, together with a ritual “welcome”, was the offering of water, shay or qahwa.

Anna Cutrone

Anna Cutrone, photographer and documentarist, was born in Rome where she currently lives and works. Her principal photographic works are concentrated in the industrial and architectural sector. She has thus collaborated with important construction companies, as well as architecture and engineering studios. Many of her works have been published in national and international magazines. Her passion for photography, combined with her strong awareness and involvement with social issues, have brought her to spend a large part of her time in developing countries. Her experiences with places and people like those of Yemen, Ethiopia, Sudan, Zimbabwe and the entire Maghreb area, have endowed her with the inspiration for her works, whose style reflect, intellectually and aesthetically, her personal political vision. She has directed many documentaries on construction in Italy and abroad, following important projects by international contracting companies. She is co-author, with Gruppo Fotografico Athena, of the video “Cento anni di fotografia al femminile”. She has produced a short film on the presence of the three main monotheistic religions in Rome, entitled “Una Città, Un Dio, Tre Religioni”, devised for educational purposes.