The successful integration in Italy of some citizens coming from Mediterranean countries is just one snippet of the 'good news' which non-profit journalists' association MediaCare wants to relate through a photographic exhibition "Those who made it: new successful citizenships".
A total 25 pictures showcased in the Exhibition Hall of Palazzo Affari ai Giureconsulti in Milan from today to July 14, as part of the event "Mediterranean Week", document the stories of 13 Moroccan, Tunisian, Albanian, Egyptian, Syrian, Lebanese, Senegalese and Iranian citizens, immortalised during moments of their daily life.
"We at MediaCare wanted to bear witness to this reality by telling positive immigration stories through images," explains the organising association, which has spread information to the mass media on the best projects of the services sector for the past year.
"Twelve photographers portrayed as many cases of positive integration in deliberately normal circumstances - the association specifies - because in our opinion true heroism is often found among our neighbours".
The exhibition is the result of work which involved, apart from MediaCare, Aie, the Italo-Egyptian association which promotes Egyptian culture, and the Chamber of Commerce of Milan.
Among the portrayed stories, that of Ali Hassun, 42, Lebanese artist, pictured with his paintings, and Modou Gueye, Senegalese actor, immersed in his theatre pieces. And also Farad, Iranian trader, pictured among the roses of his garden, his great passion.
"Arabs, Christians, Orthodox, Jews, from the eastern and southern parts of the world: a piece of Italy which deserves to be known without prejudices," says Stefano Scarpiello, editor of the exhibition.
"For this reason, the meaning of our work is to underline how foreigners in Italy today have overcome the simple aspiration to make ends meet. In fact," Scarpiello concludes, "an entire generation is now fully capable of achieving important objectives from the professional and economic point of view. That is why we call it 'successful integration'."
