Exhibition
Photographs in Prison
Expressions of Religious Freedom
Margherita Lazzati has attended the Opera maximum security prison since 2011, following various projects. From the dialogue initiated with the prison management, the idea of commenting on the text of the Penitentiary Regulations with photographs was born in 2017, corresponding the individual articles with as many image galleries. This work, still in progress, includes approximately 3000 shots. the Museo Diocesano presents the first selection, dedicated to the illustration of article 58 responsible for the regulation of “demonstrations of religious freedom”.
Through the shots on display the photographer recounts the precious moments linked to the expression of one’s faith. As in our city, a now multi-ethnic Milan where dialogue between different cultures and different religions is now more fundamental than ever, even in prison Catholic, Orthodox, Coptic, Jewish, Evangelical, Muslim, Buddhist Christians coexist… men who share the need for dialogue with God and the desire for a relationship with brothers. The absolute protagonist of these images is therefore the person, the Man.
The place, the prison, is inevitably present in almost all the shots. Closed rooms, bars, walls form the backdrop to the images. But those walls are not the last word. The light enters through the railings, goes beyond, hits the faces, creates contrasts, sometimes hides faces and expressions that we can only imagine.
The photographs exhibited here convey with touching sensitivity a single fresco of humanity which, through the expression of one’s religious faith, recovers unusual spaces of freedom.
Margherita Lazzati, with delicacy and determination, invites us to go beyond the walls and to get closer to a reality that is an integral part of society. The result is much more than a story. These images do not “explain” what happens in prison. Instead, they raise profound questions.
It is precisely for this reason that the exhibition finds its fullest meaning in the spaces of this museum, in total harmony with the identity of the museum itself, which through the beauty of art intends to arouse questions of meaning and desire for Beauty.
Margherita Lazzati (Milan, 1953).
She trained at the Brera Academy of Fine Arts and has worked in photography since the beginning of her career. From 2008, she developed her work into a coherent body of thematic projects, subsequently presented in exhibitions and publications. Over the years, her engagement with social issues has become increasingly deep and reciprocal, giving her work a distinctive visual language and sense of purpose. Her photographs begin as social reportage but seek meaning beyond the context in which they were made. Since 2011, she has explored life in prisons with particular care. Her exhibition Portraits in Prison was first presented in 2017 and has since appeared at several venues in Italy.
She lives and works in Milan.
In collaboration with Galleria l’Affiche, Milan.
