Daniele Ratti -TERRASANTA

A journey freely inspired by the legend of a pilgrim prince

Sicily of the nineteenth century, Don Ferdinando Monroy, Prince of Pandolfina and Count of Ranchibile. wants to reach the Holy Land (TERRASANTA) on foot despite the decision not to leave Palermo. Having made the exact count of the kilometers that separate him from Jerusalem, he then decides to cover the same distance by walking in circles in the garden of his house for a year and a half. Daniele Ratti, fascinated by the figure of this nobleman and by the artistic encounter with the watercolors of Antonio Monroy (last descendant of the Sicilian nobleman), decides to retrace the distances of the surreal journey through a visual itinerary lasting 24 hours. Moving at the slow pace of a day, within the walls of the ancient Villa Trabia in the center of Palermo, he immerses himself and documents a journey that has nature as its protagonist. Constantinople, Nazareth, the Holy Sepulcher become imaginary stops told through the vegetation of majestic Ficus Benjamina, prickly pear blades, holm oaks, acacias, agaves, a labyrinth of acanthus hedges, tropical plants and a vast range of palm trees.

Maria Chiara Di Trapani writes:The flora always appears different and luxuriant.
The camera lens now follows the intertwining labyrinth of climbing hedges that alternate with flowering trees and a wide range of palms and tropical plants.
The bright green tones in Narareth give way to shady and meditative places.
We advance with eyes full of amazement among shadows, rays of light that stand out clearly and impenetrable chiaroscuro.
The trunks of the trees arch in supple gestures as we are left with our nose turned to the sky to follow the evening sway of the tall palm trees moved by the wind.
There is time to pause and meditate under the centuries-old columns of a ficus magnolioides in Alexandroupolis, before continuing on to the city of Aleppo, which appears through a shattered glass winter garden.
A premonition. An image that painfully brings us back to Beirut wounded by the summer explosion in July 2020.
We arrive at the Holy Sepulcher. The slow pace of this journey fades with this glimpse of the contemporary world. Our eyes reopen.
Dream and vision become catharsis.

Technical Information:

Fine At Prints, DiBond anad frame
Cm 40×60 –Edition of 5 + 1a.p.
Cm 80×120 –Edition of 3 + 1a.p.
The exhibition is accompanied by the artist book Daniele Ratti TERRASANTA Viaggio liberamente ispirato dalla leggenda di un principe pellegrino – Ed AT Torino 221

Bio

Daniele Ratti was born in Milan in 1974, he lives and works in Turin.

After graduating in Architecture at the Polytechnic of Turin,he becomes a professional photographer in 2000. The first solo show dates back to 2004 and since then his artistic career has been flanked by other curatorial activities, including the artistic direction of “Paratissima ”, the exhibition that has been held every year in Turin since 2006.

Some of his works are currently found in the permanent collections of the PAN in Naples, the Bartoli Felter Foundation in Cagliari and numerous private collections.
From 2013 he embarked on a project that took him to the former Italian colonies in Africa and overseas, and ended with two exhibitions, one at Expo 2015 in Milan and the second at Lugano at the Consulate General of Italy.

There are many collaborations since 2015 with some editorial publications, INTERNAZIONALE, and photography festivals such as CORTONAONTHEMOVE.