"Tracce of Art and Photography Travelling between Italy and Armenia" by Carlo Coppola (and Nadia Verdile)

This morning, on page 28 of the Caserta edition of Il Mattino — the prestigious and historic Neapolitan daily newspaper founded in March 1892 by two great Italian journalists and writers, Edoardo Scarfoglio and Matilde Serao — a welcome article appeared about the exhibition “Tracce” by Patrizia Posillipo.

Written by journalist Nadia Verdile and published in the “Cultura e Spettacoli” section, the piece highlights the photographic work of Patrizia, a sensitive artist from Caserta who has long explored memories, migrations, and human connections through her lens.

Since the Caserta edition of Il Mattino is often difficult to find outside the Campania region, we have decided to transcribe the full article for everyone who wishes to read it — both in Italy and abroad. This sharing is especially dedicated to the many friends and enthusiasts of art, photography, and Italian-Armenian relations who follow the project from afar.

“Tracce – Photography in Journey between Italy and Armenia” is a profound and poetic project. With her attentive and empathetic gaze, Patrizia Posillipo has followed the traces of personal and collective stories, objects, documents, and testimonies that still connect the two shores today. The work was developed thanks to valuable historical and social collaboration with the Centro Culturale Hrand Nazariantz and its President, the undersigned Carlo Coppola, who helped map these intense cultural exchanges between Italy and Armenia.

The exhibition, which was successfully presented in Yerevan at the Museum of Modern Art (curated by Isabella Indolfi), continues to arouse interest and affection because it speaks of “traces” that do not fade: emotional baggage, family memories, and bonds that transcend borders and generations.

Anyone interested in the full transcription of the article or in more information about the project can contact me privately. Culture lives on through these invisible but enduring bridges.

Special thanks to Nadia Verdile for her attention and to Il Mattino for continuing to give space to the excellences of our territory.

Carlo Coppola

A Caserta-born artist, Patrizia Posillipo, a binational exhibition that brings together Armenia and Italy, a title “Tracce. Fotografia in viaggio tra Italia e Armenia” (“Traces. Photography Travelling between Italy and Armenia”), and the Italian Embassy in Yerevan. Among them is Casal di Principe with its ancient Armenian-origin ritual of blessing candles at the throat on the day of Saint Blaise. “This saint,” explains Posillipo, “was a bishop and martyr from Armenia, a thaumaturge invoked in cases of diseases of the laryngopharyngeal apparatus. In Casal di Principe his cult is deeply felt, and the link with Armenia is very strong. Proof of this is that on both 8 February 2014 and 6 February 2015, the local church was visited by Kevork Noradunguian, then Rector of the Pontifical Armenian College in Rome, accompanied by a delegation of seminarians and the choir of the same college.” Posillipo’s photographs tell ancient traditions, such as the one in Casal di Principe, faces, objects, symbols and writings, and will be exhibited at the Italian Embassy in Armenia. The exhibition is curated by Isabella Indolfi. “The photographic eye of Patrizia Posillipo,” explains the curator, “is like a caress: it does not merely possess the image nor limit itself to recording it. Thanks to the time granted by the posed portrait technique, it enters into close relationship with the subjects, with the aim of capturing their character and feelings through an almost anthropological approach. This succeeds not only in documenting the transformations of communities and individuals, but also in capturing their inner landscapes, raising the poetic metaphor of the drama and beauty of identities in continuous evolution.” Posillipo’s research work will have a second phase: the photography of Italians in Armenia. From west to east, from north to south, across the main Italian and Armenian regions, in search of the connections that are still alive between the two countries. Places and faces will recount this intense bond, made of cultural, artistic, scientific and commercial exchanges. “Extremely valuable,” the artist continues, “has been the scientific contribution of the scholar of Armenian culture Carlo Coppola, who provided me with a detailed map of places and people to track down.” 

 Nadia Verdile