(Jun. 4) Fosco Maraini was an ethnologist, an orientalist, a traveler, a sculptor, a writer and a poet. But most of all, an artist who made the photograph “one of the means to capture the essence of facts, people and civilization.” Japan will pay homage to his work. From June 16 to 30, in fact, the Exhibition Hall of the Italian Cultural Institute of Tokyo will host the exhibition “L’incanto delle donne del mare”, that collects 30 b/w photographs taken in Japan in 1954 by photographer known for being the father of Dacia Maraini. His first arrival in Japan dates back to 1939 and is linked to a series of studies on Ainu people. Returning home after the war, Maraini back to Japan in 1954 to carry out a series of research and gather photographic documentation on ama women in the Hekura area, in the Noto Peninsula. With his shots, Maraini recounted the life of the amas, (Japanese word that means “women of the sea”): women who dive in apnea – even for two minutes in icy and deep waters – in search of crustaceans and mollusks . The photos do not show only the work of the amas but also the life of every day and the traditions of the villages. (Red)
