PIZZOLI (AQ) – “Winter in Abruzzo”the exhibition of Herbert Grabe. The photographer and painter Herbert Grabe exhibits his images of the Ginzburg family’s exile in Abruzzo from 25 to 28 April at Palazzo Crostarosa in Pizzoli.
Exile in the Abruzzo winter is an exploration of the common history of Italy and Germany. It’s a short story of five or six pages that Natalia Ginzburg wrote about her exile in Abruzzo. From 1940 to 1943 she lived with her husband and three children in a small mountain town in the Apennines. Abruzzo was the scene of many terrible crimes committed by the Germans during the Second World War and the remote Abruzzo region was chosen by the Italian fascist regime for the exile of political opponents.
Herbert Grabe tells this story with the images, photos and objects he created for this exhibition. In this way, both elements sensitively reveal an important part of the common history of Italy and Germany, very close to the people. They are a precious impulse for humanity and peace.
We see Natalia and Leone Ginzburg, Domenico Orecchia, the little tailor, Crocetta, the waitress, the father who lost his son. Even the places appear before our eyes: the prison where Leone Ginzburg died, the Girò shop, the town of Pizzoli, the winter landscapes of Abruzzo. Leone Ginzburg came from a Jewish family from Odessa, Natalia Ginzburg’s father was Jewish, her mother Catholic. They lived in Turin. The reason for their exile was twofold. They were opponents of the regime and Jews.
Wilma Rapf-Karikari, gallery owner of the Kunstpartner Galerie in Adlmannstein (Bavaria), says of the exhibition: “Herbert Grabe is not only a great seeker and inventor of images, but accompanies his impressions with extremely eloquent narratives. Equally eloquent is his ability to use the camera to tell a story with photographs of him: The wrinkled face of an Abruzzo shepherd needs no description. The relationship with the jagged rock walls is evident.”
The gallery owner also classified Herbert Grabe’s paintings: “He approaches the main characters of the story in a painterly way. His intention is not to create an almost authentic photographic representation, but to offer us portraits as they can be imagined, as they could be. The deliberate imprecision that Herbert Grabe allows in his paintings allows the viewer to complete their own image.”
Herbert Grabe also wants to make a contribution to the culture of remembrance: for the artist this concept is not just a word, but an important basis. Academic Dina Porat writes “Remembrance is not an obligation, it is the memory that always accompanies us”.
Venue of the exhibition: Pizzoli (AQ), Palazzo Crostarosa, Corso Sallustio, 144.
The inauguration will be held on Thursday 25 April 2024 at 3.30 pm.
Opening time: Friday 26 April 10am – 4pm, Saturday 27 April 10am – 5pm, Sunday 28 April 11am – 6pm
Herbert Grabe he was born in Auerbach in the Upper Palatinate in Germany and lives in Donaustauf in Bavaria and Bucchianico in Abruzzo. He is a photographer, painter and cultural mediator.
Links
– https://www.facebook.com/biblioteca.pizzoli
– https://www.facebook.com/comunepizzoli
– http://www.herbertgrabe.de
Tags: Winter Abruzzo Herbert Grabe presents exhibition Ginzburg family
