On the occasion of the centenary of the birth of Mario Giacomelli, the Giacomelli Archive has promoted a series of initiatives aimed at celebrating the artistic and cultural legacy of one of the greatest masters of Italian photography. The heart of the celebrations will be an important exhibition project that will take place simultaneously in Rome, at Palazzo Esposizioni, and in Milan, at Palazzo Reale, offering two complementary paths that will delve into the multiple facets of Giacomelli's work.

Curated by Bartolomeo Pietromarchi and Katiuscia Biondi Giacomelli, the exhibition project will present a wide selection of the master's entire photographic work, emphasizing his extraordinary ability to cross and contaminate different artistic disciplines. Both exhibitions will consist of approximately 300 original prints, many of which are unpublished and never exhibited before. In Rome, the focus will be on the relationships between Giacomelli's work and contemporary visual arts. Milan, on the other hand, will dedicate the exhibition to Giacomelli's deep connection with poetry, highlighting how his research intertwines with the lyrical universe, transforming the image into a form of poetic narration.

The exhibition at Palazzo Esposizioni Roma Mario Giacomelli. The photographer and the artist, unfolds as a journey through different thematic rooms, proposing a series of dialogues between the work of five great masters of contemporary art and photography, Afro Basaldella and Alberto Burri, Jannis Kounellis, Enzo Cucchi, Roger Ballen, and some photographic series by Mario Giacomelli.

At the heart of the exhibition path is a room entirely dedicated to the famous series I do not have hands that touch my face (1961-1963), which, in the early sixties, consecrated Mario Giacomelli on the international scene. Conceived as a real installation, the room conveys the energy and circular movement that animate the series, enhancing its performative dimension. The images of young seminarians, suspended between play and spirituality, become pure visual poetry, still capable today of moving and engaging the viewer with their timeless intensity.