MANN, Museo Archeologico Nazionale, Naples, Italy
4 Mar-30 Jun 2020
An intriguing experimental journey aimed at highlighting the legacy of ancestral culture linked to Medea – the Mediterranean Mother Goddess, still perceptible in contemporary female faces – lies at the heart of Donatella Donatelli’s photographic exhibition Be That Woman. Contemporary Mythology, presented at the MANN (National Archaeological Museum of Naples).
Feminine features emerge as a living legacy, bearing witness to the cultural influences that permeate the world – differences that converge into a single, all – encompassing symbolism embodying the dual roles of Muse and Mother, while simultaneously projecting love, creative force, and a profound connection with nature.
Women and girls are portrayed in the complexity of their essence, affirming feminine sensitivity in its many forms. The portraits capture the transparency of their eyes, which internalize experience and allow vital energies to surface through a magnetic gaze.
Donatella Donatelli turns her lens toward the contemporary female condition, exploring ethno-anthropological singularities that continue to exert a powerful fascination. The oriental geisha, for instance, or the intense gaze of a Muslim woman, express a femininity shaped by centuries – old traditions that have withstood the passage of time.
These figures thus emerge as modern myths, destined to endure.
Edited by
Edited by Chiara Reale
Promoted by
Miele più; Fabrizio Pesiri