June 17 – He likes to call himself the “reporter of peace,” and the common thread of his photography is unity: unity as contact and comunion, without racial, religious or ideological boundaries. Ireno Guerci was born in Lerici, but has lived in Auroville, India, since 1988. In recent days, Guerci received from the Mayor of Lerici the “LericiPea sezione Artisti e Poeti liguri nel Mondo 2014,” while the whole town is getting ready to celebrate the photographer with an exhibition in the main castle. The photographer’s installation “Water Being”, a series of images of Aquatic Body work. The images on display in Lerici are part of the larger exhibition that took place in recent months in Auroville at the Unity Pavillon. The city was inaugurated on February 28, 1968, a legendary city that continues to attract people looking for a free, spiritual and practical way of life. Utopia seems to have found its foundation in Auroville, whose citizens have planted over 3 million trees to rebuild a destroyed ecosystem. They built dams, and set up a sophisticated alternative energy system. However, the quest for spirituality is just as important for Auroville’s citizens: they practice yoga and study the body at the Pitanga center.
