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 _ The tree of love: Beech tree graffiti in the photographs of Flavio Faganello
The tree of love: Beech tree graffiti in the photographs of Flavio Faganello
Trento, Borgo Valsugana (province of Trento) 2004-2005
In collaboration with the Autonomous Province of Trento, the Tridentino Museum of natural sciences, and Borgo Valsugana district council (province of Trento)
Curated by Roberto Festi and Michele Lanzinger. Catalogue by esaExpoedizioni
The exhibition is available for new showings

The exhibition, which previewed at the Tridentino Museum of natural sciences in Trento, is dedicated to an allegorical reading of the inscriptions of love found carved on the bark of the beech tree. The beech is a real "tree of love", sought out from among the other species of the foothill woodlands because of the special structure of its bark. Because of the nature of their ecology, beech woods may very often be found in particularly attractive places which are conducive to walking. These are precisely the places of choice for the unknown carvers which the Trentino photographer Flavio Faganello (1933-2005) has so sensitively documented. The fact that each image can be tied to a particular place gives this exhibition the unusual flavour of an imaginary "journey" through the expressions of love collected by the photographer in three years of research in one of his last and most successful works. Along with the many symbols of lifelong fidelity, there are also more complex quotations, some citing particular historical moments. This treasure trove of feeling is presented with clear-eyed nostalgia, in full awareness of the contrast between this age- old gesture and the new media of the age of email, SMS and the omnipresent mobile phone. It represents a clash between heartfelt sentiment entrusted to eternity in the form of the majestic beech, and the fleeting nature of electronic communication. The exhibition comprises 90 photographs in a range of formats, including prints on some unusual media and video projections, all making for a particularly evocative experience.