Milan in the 1960s, theatre, intellectuals, bodies, protests, even psychiatric hospitals: Carla Cerati moved through the second half of the twentieth century with a camera and a gaze that refused to remain indifferent. To mark the centenary of her birth, Palazzo Reale presents a major retrospective bringing together photographs, books, documents, archival materials and videos.
Born in 1926, Cerati worked for over forty years, documenting Italian society and its transformations. Her archive encompasses the changing Milan of the early 1960s, experimental theatre, celebrated portraits of intellectuals and an exploration of the female nude that challenged traditional stereotypes. The most powerful chapter is Morire di classe, the groundbreaking 1969 book created with Gianni Berengo Gardin. Photographs taken inside psychiatric hospitals confronted the public with the living conditions of patients and became part of the debate surrounding Italy’s asylum system. The exhibition reveals a photographer for whom observing also meant taking a stand. From faces to the city, from the stage to the human body, Cerati always searched for the person behind the image. Perhaps that is why, more than half a century later, her photographs still seem to look back at us.
At Palazzo Citterio, Grande Brera's monumental Ledwall hosts an immersive installation where poetry, artificial intelligence and the memory of writing converge in dialogue with the historic Biblioteca Braidense.
