The Twana Archive
17.03.2023, h 19.00
Presentation of the project with Rawsht Twana and Caterina Erica Shanta
Introduced by Marta Bianchi
“The Twana Archive project” is the study, cataloging, digitalization, and documentation of the photo archive of Twana Abdullah. He was a photographer operating in Iranian Kurdistan between 1974 and 1992, until he was killed on June 22 of that year. His son, Rawsht Twana, preserves and takes care of this archive, which includes about 20.000 photos in different formats.
On Friday 17 March 2023, for the finissage of Caterina Erica Shanta’s exhibition “The Starry Sky”, Careof will host Rawsht Twana in its exhibition area. Conversing with the artist Caterina Erica Shanta, he will tell the story of the project starting from its contents to future perspectives, with a focus on his recent stay at Arab Image Foundation of Beirut.
The meeting is an opportunity to think about the importance and value of this archive that shows and witnesses the history of a community and the practices of its founder, with references to the political and historical context.
THE TWANA ARCHIVE PROJECT
“The Twana Archive project” started almost twenty years ago thanks to the efforts of the Kurdish photographer and archivist Rawsht Twana. In 2021, the Italian artist and director Erica Shanta was involved for film research in the project, which is now coordinated by Grazia Sechi.
“The Twana Archive project” is supported by the Italian Council, Direzione Generale Creatività Contemporanea, Ministero della Cultura (10 ed., 2021); Archive Kabinett, Berlin; Arab Image Foundation, Beirut; Careof, Milan.
RAWSHT TWANA - BIOGRAPHY
Rawsht Twana is a photographer and archivist. He became a photographer to follow his father’s tracks. In 2009 he started his career as newspaper photographer for Metrography – an independent photo agency in Iraq – working on the documentation of social events with a close perspective and the long-term projects in Iranian Kurdistan. His photos were published in several newspapers.
CATERINA ERICA SHANTA - BIOGRAFIA
Caterina Erica Shanta is an artist and a director. After completing the master’s degree in Arti Visive, she started to work with moving images, making movies based on private archives and collective cinema practices. She took part in several training courses about moving images, artist-in-residence, and programmes for artists. Her works were exhibited in galleries, museums, contemporary art foundations and film festivals.
