La Voce e il Tempo covered the inauguration of the Casa Don Bosco’s final permanent exhibits which took place on Wednesday September 8,  2021, dedicated to members of the Salesian Family who are saints, blesseds, venerables and servants of God. In the same event, the temporary photographic exhibit, “Lock Art”, promoted and realised in collaboration with “Art Full Frame”, was unveiled. Below is the text edited by Marina Lomunno.

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On September 8, 2021, at Casa Don Bosco Museum in Valdocco, two galleries dedicated to the 64 members of the Salesian Family who are saints, blessed, venerable and servants of God were inaugurated, completing the Museum’s permanent exhibits. Fr. Ángel Fernández Artime, Rector Major of the Salesians and tenth successor to the saint of young people, did the honours. It was a top priority of his to complete the Museum, “which I hope”, he said,  “will continue to expand like our religious family, the largest in the Church, present in 134 nations on five continents”. In these galleries, “anyone who has met Don Bosco will find the founding spirit of Valdocco, which has spanned the centuries and the nations, giving ever new expression to the Salesian charism”, recalled the Director, Stefania de Vita. Notwithstanding the thousands of objects, artefacts and works of art that attest to an educational adventure which now serves young people at risk even in the most remote corners of the planet, a fundamental piece was missing: “the life and the reality of so many who have carried Don Bosco’s charism around the world”, the Rector Major pointed out. “Here, we find a ‘marvellous rainbow’ of people: among them we find not only Salesians, but also past pupils who impacted society in remarkable ways, martyrs whose commitment to the young was sealed with their blood, as well as consecrated and lay women”. Pride of place goes to St. Mary Domenica Mazzarello, co-founder of the Daughters of Mary Help of Christians, “with whom Don Bosco realized his great educational dream for the advancement of girls”. 

On the occasion of the ribbon-cutting ceremony of these newest galleries, Fr. Artime also inaugurated the temporary photographic exhibit entitled “Lock art”, realised in collaboration with “Art Full Frame”. It is on display until November 21, 2021. Through the photographs of 15 international young photographers (Italy is represented by Claudio Gottardo and Gabriele Zago from Turin), visitors to Casa Don Bosco are invited to reflect on how the Covid pandemic has changed us. The photographers have captured moments of ordinary life during the lockdown (hence the title of the exhibit) which, as the photos document, has never ceased to inspire those who were not intimidated by curfews and masks. Even within the four walls of their homes, these artists were able to frame glimpses of hope amidst pain and tears. Inspired by Don Bosco’s conviction that “it is a true feast to be able to take care of the souls of young people”, the exhibit’s curator, Chiara Candellone Sticca, chose young – sometimes very young -photographers who, with two images each, accompany the visitor “into the everyday life of the world’s pandemic reality, so different and for each of us and yet sadly the same.” “Through the exhibit, Casa Don Bosco Museum becomes a spokesperson for that human ability to overcome complex moments of suffering by rediscovering the beauty of relationships and contemplating the extraordinary in the ordinary”. The exhibit would certainly have pleased the Saint of young people who understood that images can speak more powerfully than words. Don Bosco, according to Fr. Cristian Besso, leader the museological project, was the first saint in history to be photographed, between 1861 and his death in 1888. There are 42 photographs of Don Bosco, a number surpassed in Italy only by such historical figures as Garibaldi and Vittorio Emanuele II.

Marina LOMUNNO – 19 September – The Voice and Time

Lock Art Exhibit