Following the success of Sebastião Salgado’s Amazônia, Rome’s MAXXI National Museum of 21st Century Arts has announced that the exhibition will be extended until April 25th 2022. Over 100,000 people have visited the MAXXI to see Salgado’s photos of the Amazon rainforest since it launched in October 2021. The exhibition at Rome’s MAXXI is the only Italian leg of Amazônia’s international tour.
Photography Exhibition:
Amazônia – Salgado’s Latest Photographic Journey
The Amazon Rainforest occupies a third of the South American continent, an area larger than the entire European Union. Salgado spent seven years to complete the Amazônia project, which documents the region’s immense power as well as its fragility. Salgado’s captivating photographs take us on a deep journey into a magnificent and unique environment. They also document the fascinating lives of the Indigenous people of the Amazon.
Produced by MAXXI in collaboration with Contrasto, the Amazônia exhibition is curated by Lélia Wanick Salgado, the travel and life partner of the legendary photographer. Speaking about his Amazonia project, Salgado said “This exhibition is the result of seven years of human experience and photographic expeditions made by land, water and air”.
Photographing the People of the Amazon
The second part of the exhibition is dedicated to the Indigenous peoples of the Amazon. Salgado has immortalized a number of the Amazon’s tribespeople, many of whom face an endangered future. When shooting the series, Salgado settled in villages for weeks at a time, photographing the unique way of life of the rainforest’s tribes.
The exhibition features Salgado’s photographs of the Awá-Guajá. A community of just 450 people, the Awá-Guajá is considered to be amongst the most threatened tribes on earth. Salgado has also photographed the Yawanawá tribe. Once close to extinction, the Yawanawá are now thriving, having worked to raise greater awareness of their culture. Salgado has also photographed the Korubo, one of the Amazon’s most isolated tribes. Salgado’s expedition in 2017 was the first occasion in which a team of documentary filmmakers and journalists had spent time among the Korubo tribe.
Salgado’s Immersive Celebration of the Amazon
Along with Salgado’s photographs, the Amazônia exhibition also includes recreations of ocas, the traditional huts used by indigenous communities in rainforest. Elsewhere images are complemented by the symphonic poem Erosao (Origem do Rio Amazonas) written by the Brazillian composer Heitor Villa Lobos in 1950.
Visitors can also enjoy music written by the Brazilian musician Rodolfo Stroeter. Another piece of music by Jean-Michel Jarre. Commissioned for the exhibition, it is inspired by the sounds of the Amazon forest. Amazônia is not only an exhibition of incredible photographs, but also an immersive celebration of the Amazon, to which Sebastião Salgado has dedicated several years of his life.
If you are planning to visit Rome on those dates and interested in this exhibition, feel free to mention it to your Bellarome Travel Consultant. These extended dates now accomodate Easter break travellers.
Tickets are available for purchase online. The Maxxi Museum is in the Flaminio neighbourhood. Take a half an hour walk from Villa Borghese and its stunning gardens and museums. Or you can catch the 910 bus from there and ride 12 stops.
