TROUGH OUR EYES
PHOTOGRAPHIC EXHIBITION
concept by Nicoletta Novara
24 JUNE - 8 JULY 2022
Already exhibited at the Chamber of Deputies and in no less than 84 cities in Europe and the United States of America, ‘Through Our Eyes’ is a long-term photographic project, which started in 2019 and is still in progress, involving 156 minors aged between 9 and 17 who were offered the opportunity to follow a photography course led by Nicoletta Novara at the ‘Mazí’ school (Samos) and at the ‘Still I Rise International School’ (Nairobi) and by the Syrian photographer Mahmoud Faisal at the ‘Ma'an’ school (North-West Syria). The young students were thus able to recount their difficult conditions, expressing themselves through the universal language of photography. ‘Through Our Eyes’ talks about migration, war and poverty and does so through an innocent look in which the photographer's point of view and feelings are necessary to understand what is happening, without filters or stereotypes. The ‘first chapter’ of ‘Through Our Eyes’, the one on Samos with the photographs taken by minors living in the island's refugee camp, took shape in the volume ‘Through Our Eyes’, published by Bur and released in all Italian bookshops on 3 November 2020. The book opens with a fable written by Nicolò Govoni, President and Executive Director of Still I Rise, and continues with a selection of the shots from the exhibition. Each photograph is accompanied by a note written by the minors themselves who recall the time spent on the island, recounting their dreams and hopes for the future.
Still I Rise is an independent international organisation established to provide education and protection for refugee and vulnerable children. Still I Rise opens emergency schools and international schools to ensure high quality education for children forgotten by all. The organisation currently operates in Europe, the Middle East and the African continent.
