Beyond the Record: Tito and Sandro Spini’s Ethnographic Photography on

Beyond the Record: the ethnographic photography of Tito and Sandro Spini

Where: CSAC, Abbey of Valserena in Paradigna (University of Parma). Until: April 26, 2026.

This exhibition brings together 61 prints and previously unseen archival materials documenting Tito and Sandro Spini's photographic fieldwork in Mali in the 1970s and 1980s. Curated by Alessandra Acocella and Alessandro Ferraro, the show pairs images with documents to reconstruct the research process and field methods behind the work.

The display is deliberately spare yet effective, organizing works around thematic clusters—everyday practices, domestic spaces and work activities—that offer a clear and nuanced reading of the Bozo and Dogon communities photographed by the Spinis. Alongside the photographs, letters, notes and editorial materials help trace the intentions and operational dynamics of their field research.

Notably, the Spinis' architectural background surfaces subtly in their compositions: an emphasis on space and the relations between people and their environment shapes an analytical gaze that moves beyond purely documentary uses of photography, positioning it as a critical research tool.

• On display: 61 photographic prints and archival documents (letters, notes, invitations, editorial materials).
• Themes: representation of otherness, visual anthropology, everyday life, domestic space.
• Why visit: to better understand the role of ethnographic photography and the research dynamics behind the images.

The exhibition is part of the PRIN PNRR 2022 research project "Straniere," which explores the reception of non-European cultures in Italy in the second half of the twentieth century, a framework that enriches the show’s critical and scientific significance.

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