Brazil, Algeria, Antarctica, Russia, Mali, Alaska, India, Namibia, Italy... There are 42 photographs by the famous Maestro Sebastião Salgado, printed in large format, which make up AQUA MATER, the exhibition which, after the presentation in Paris in a pavilion of bamboo under the Grande Arche in the Defense district, will be exhibited for the first time in Italy at Palazzo Ducale in Genoa, opening to the public from 22 March 2024, on the occasion of World Water Day promoted by UNESCO.

AQUA MATER is produced by the Palazzo Ducale Foundation in collaboration with Rjma Progetti cultural, Creation and SM-Art. The exhibition is curated by Lélia Wanick Salgado, the photographer's work and life partner and the exhibition itinerary is accompanied by a sound track composed for the exhibition by the musician François Bernard Mâche, of the Académie des Beaux Arts. An audio guide in Italian and English will also be available to all visitors with the personal story of Sebastião Salgado and his memories of the photos presented in the exhibition.

The exhibition project was born from the author's reflection on the state of the Planet and in particular on Water, the element that makes it unique in the universe, a theme at the center of an epochal change that Fondazione Palazzo Ducale welcomes with a great sense of responsibility. Climate warming and rising ocean levels, desertification and floods will have devastating consequences for the environment and for millions of people who will be forced to change their lives. Harmonious cohabitation with the aquatic element and its protection are increasingly essential for our survival and the protection of biodiversity in the world.

With these assumptions Sebastião Salgado has selected some significant images to represent the need, beauty, strength and mysteries of water, a fundamental and precious element of the Earth. The photographs – printed in black and white on large formats – will be displayed in an evocative exhibition itinerary. The photos show the relationship between nature and human life, highlighting the link between the environmental crisis and social inequalities.