Una faccia una razza. Francesco Radino

With “Opere in primo piano” Fondazione Modena Arti Visive brings art into Modena’s cultural venues. The works dialogue with the themes, events and programmes proposed by other cultural institutions and meet the public, revealing connections, suggesting reflections, stimulating new ideas and thoughts. After its debut at Teatro Storchi last autumn, the second appointment with “Opere in primo piano” takes place on occasion of the “Globalizzazioni.Forme e immagini dell'universalismo” conference series proposed by Fondazione San Carlo when the polyptych by Francesco Radino, Una faccia una razza, commissioned in 2016 by Fondazione Modena Arti Visive (at the time Fondazione Fotografia), will be put on public display at the Fondazione premises.

The work places portraits of refugees and volunteers from different nations alongside portraits of inhabitants of Lesbos, the island where they find themselves living side by side. These are joined by traditional Orthodox icons and mosaics, taking us back to ancient times and common historical roots. The motto “a face, a race”, often used by the Greeks when welcoming Italian tourists, is extended to all the icons of this exodus. While presently an emergency, the exchange of people, cultures and goods has in actual fact always been at the basis of Mediterranean civilization. In a period of history in which borders are open for goods but closed to people, Radino’s works invite us to reflect on the origin of these cultural and political barriers.