Imperfect photography within fragile living. Works by Maurizio Galimberti

The exhibition Fotografia imperfetta dentro il fragile vivere, by Maurizio Galimberti, opens the month dedicated to Alzheimer's patients at the Fondazione Luigi Rovati. On display are a series of unpublished photographic portraits taken by Maurizio Galimberti of residents of “Paese Ritrovato,” the Alzheimer's Disease Village designed and built by the La Meridiana Cooperative of Monza.

Every year on September 21, World Alzheimer's Day, established in 1994 by the World Health Organization (WHO) and Alzheimer's Disease International (ADI), is celebrated worldwide. Throughout the month, initiatives are offered to raise awareness and disseminate more information about the disease. Alzheimer's disease is the most common form of dementia. It most frequently arises after age 65 and most often affects women. Like all forms of dementia, it involves a progressive decline in cognitive function, starting with memory.

Since its inception, Fondazione Luigi Rovati has placed the values of social inclusion at the core of its activities and initiatives. It is within this framework that “Museo Gentile” (Gentle Museum) is located, a synthesis of a series of projects specifically designed to welcome people with fragility and special needs, independently or together with family members, friends and care-givers, through diversified paths of enjoyment of the Museum and its works of art.

Within this broader system, on the occasion of Alzheimer's month, Fondazione Luigi Rovati, in collaboration with Cooperativa La Meridiana of Monza, inaugurates the exhibition Imperfect photography within fragile living. Works by Maurizio Galimberti and presents the project Stare bene insieme (Being well together), the pathway to visit museum collections aimed at people with neurodegenerative diseases.

For the exhibition Maurizio Galimberti worked with two different techniques. With the first, he starts from shots taken with a Leica Q3, a mirrorless camera, and then uses a Polaroid Giant Camera 50x60: this mode allowed him to transfer the Polaroid onto wet drawing paper, specially prepared to hold the photographic matrix. With the second he uses the Polaroid I-2 camera: four portraits were also taken with an additional lens resting on the printed photograph from the original portrait.