From Kolkata to Italy on Wheel: Italian art & culture exhibition

The Consulate General of Italy in Kolkata in collaboration with WBTC (West Bengal Transport Corporation) inaugurated the nine-day long art and culture exhibition part – II on Friday at the Ballygunge Tram Depot in the esteemed presence of Mr. Gianluca Rubagotti, The Consul General of Italy in Kolkata, Poroma Banerjee, Renowened Singer, Mimi Das, Social Activist, Dipannita Acharya, famous folk singer. The event will take place for three days at Ballygunge conclude on 27th February.

During the pandemic, this exhibition series was initiated. Given the difficulties of walking out of one’s house and producing fresh tales with a camera, two existing photographic archives were brought together, beginning with Rajib De’s black and white photos of Kolkata. The Trieste photography circle (Alessandro Rosani, Rossana Coslovi, and Giuseppe Ialuna)

proved to be an excellent choice, while Francesca Rosani took on the difficult challenge of establishing parallels between Kolkata and various Italian towns. Due to the large scale of the photographs, the exhibition was divided into two parts: the first, dedicated to architectures and places and exhibited in diptychs, and the second, devoted to people caught in their daily activities and exhibited in groups and complemented by the use of relevant props, was held in the historical bakery of a renowned hotel and exhibited in groups (a bicycle, a wheel, a chessboard, etc.).

While addressing the media, Mr. Gianluca Rubagotti, the Consul General of Italy in Kolkata said, “Amid the pandemic’s hardships, we decided to create an interesting exhibition to introduce Italian art and culture to the people of Kolkata. It is an absolute pleasure to bring art to various areas of the city so that more people can enjoy this dialogue between Kolkata and the different Italian cities. The Consulate General of Italy is trying to identify diverse locations and ways to disseminate art, in a context, like the city of Kolkata, which is extremely receptive. The tram, with its historical connection to the soul of the city, is something that the inhabitants have already shown to appreciate, and I am sure it will be the same also for this second part. We look forward to continuing the exhibition every year.” It will be nice if you could include a selected set of photographs from the second part segment of the From Kolkata to Italy.