Despite all the changes in social life in recent years, the need to experience Holy Week celebrations in person remains remarkably strong. These events are understood as live stagings of key moments in the Passion, death and resurrection of Christ — often scheduled at unlikely hours, almost always organized by the Confraternities — and they draw in even those who do not fully share the religious belief.
From the very beginning of our professional activity in the 1980s, we worked extensively in the reproduction of works of art, most of which are preserved in ecclesiastical settings. We were particularly struck by the imagery connected to Holy Week rituals — wooden and papier-mâché sculptures from the 17th and 18th centuries, frescoes, canvases, calvaries, and Stations of the Cross. In 1994 we produced the photographs for a volume dedicated to Religious Confraternities, edited by Clara Gelao and published by Electa Napoli. When we began building our own photographic archive — one that would reflect our personal vision of the territory where we work (Puglia and Basilicata) — it felt natural to address not only landscape and artistic heritage, but also the rituals of Holy Week. We found ourselves moved by the deep connection between the material heritage (devotional and artistic objects) and the intangible one (the rites kept alive and handed down, almost always, by the religious Confraternities). In our research we were struck above all by the dedication of the Confratelli who keep this tradition alive, preserving costumes and customs and often managing to involve younger generations as well. Many of our photographs are dedicated to them. As with other traditions we have documented over the past twenti years, ritual here is a means of living — directly, physically — experiences that are not mediated by the global network. In this gallery some photos from this long term project concerning the Puglia region
sud archive: 