The Italian Cultural Institute (IIC) of Chicago will host the exhibition “Through Our Eyes”, a photography project launched in 2019 by the international nonprofit organization Still I Rise. The exhibition will be inaugurated on September 14th, and it will run from September 16th to October 8th 2023.
“Through Our Eyes” tells stories of migration, war and poverty through the pictures shot by refugee and vulnerable children living in the island of Samos, Greece, in Al Dana in North-West Syria, and in the Mathare slum of Nairobi, Kenya.
All 156 children involved in the project are students at Still I Rise’s schools. “Through Our Eyes” will be hosted by the Italian Cultural Institute of Chicago, the cultural office of the Consulate General of Italy in the city, as a part of the project “Chi Siamo: (Re)presenting Italian Culture”, a one-year series dedicated to representation, diversity and inclusion in Italian culture.
«The exhibition is an important part of our 2023 programming», says Luca Di Vito, Director of the Italian Cultural Institute, «because it relates to some of the work that we are bringing to the local public, related to migrations and how this issue is represented in Italian arts. “Through Our Eyes” opens a chapter in this year’s programming that will continue in October with a series of screenings of Italian movies on this very topic, but also allows us to continue discussing socially engaged issues that speak to a global audience».
«Bringing “Through Our Eyes” to Chicago, and to the United States, will allow us to raise awareness to a new audience not only on the living conditions of refugee and vulnerable children around the world, but also on their dreams and their hopes about the future», says Giulia Cicoli, Communications and Fundraising Director of Still I Rise. «They are active subjects in building their lives and making decisions, and too often they are just talked about by the media or some international organizations: we believe that their stories must be told through their own eyes.» (Press release)
