The Villa Bassi Rathgeb Museum in Abano Terme presents Women Power, an extraordinary photographic exhibition that explores, through iconic images from the Magnum Photos agency, the role of women from the post-World War II period to today, highlighting the strength and complexity of the female journey towards emancipation and the social transformations that have marked the condition of women in the last seventy years.
Women Power focuses on two complementary aspects: women photographers who document reality with a unique vision, and women portrayed who emerge as subjects of great value through Magnum’s lenses, witnesses of challenges, achievements, and roles in intimate and public contexts. The exhibition unfolds around six thematic sections that explore the family context, growth, identity, myths of beauty and fame, political battles, and war. Each of these themes is represented by works created by some of the most important female authors of Magnum Photos, including Inge Morath, Eve Arnold, Olivia Arthur, Myriam Boulos, Bieke Depoorter, Nanna Heitmann, Susan Meiselas, Lúa Ribeira, Alessandra Sanguinetti, Marilyn Silverstone, and Newsha Tavakolian. Internationally renowned authors alongside young contemporary photographers, with reportages created in very different historical and geographical contexts, ranging from portraits of Marilyn Monroe to those of FARC fighters in Colombia.
The exhibition brings out a comparison between styles, languages, and generations, giving life to an unprecedented dialogue of voices and perspectives that are never conventional. The photographs, although very different from each other, are linked by struggles, emotions, and experiences that, through their presence and postures, become symbols of a journey of emancipation, both as individuals and as communities.
While celebrating the female contribution to photography, the exhibition also includes shots by famous photographers such as Robert Capa, Bruce Davidson, Elliott Erwitt, Rafal Milach, Paolo Pellegrin, and Ferdinando Scianna, who have been able to narrate the female condition by witnessing the challenges related to women’s rights. The exhibition also offers a starting point for reflection on the relationship between the female body and its representation. The photographs immortalize women in moments of intimacy, but also in full public engagement, where their presence and postures become symbols of a struggle towards emancipation, not only as individuals but as communities.
Cover: Listen Project, Iran, 2010-2011 © Newsha Tavakolian / Magnum Photos
Curated by Walter Guadagnini, Monica Poggi
Promoted by Municipality of Abano Terme
In collaboration with CoopCulture
Produced by CAMERA — Italian Center for Photography
In collaboration with Magnum Photos
Press office and communication Lara Facco P&C
Catalog Dario Cimorelli Editore available in the museum bookshop
