Within the cultural activities that Thetis SpA, one of the main Italian engineering companies involved in the field of environmental, mechanical, civil, computer, electronic and transport engineering – the presentation of the book Time Lag by the photographer Patrizia Bonanzinga will take place on Thursday 7th June at 5p.m. in the spaces of the Arsenal of Venice. The public talk, promoted by Thetis and sponsored by the Cultural department of the City of Venice, will be introduced by Enrico Gusella, critic and historian of photography. The book Time Lag represents a kind of the author’s travel journal. As a photographer and globetrotter, Patrizia Bonanzinga worked in Mozambique from 2007 to 2009. Amongst her pictures and encounters that recount the time spent in the former Portuguese colony, the book presents a sequence of photographs and texts as a reflection about time, to which Europeans and Africans have completely different approaches. “In Europe, we measure it by the minute; indeed, new technologies are making for ever closer deadlines. In Africa, on the other hand, time seems to pass in a circular manner. Every day is repeated within an identical daily template and nothing really seems to happen. But how long can we go on kidding ourselves that clocks in Africa and Europe run differently?” That is the question that Marta Dassù asks in her introduction to the book. The race seems like having begun, and time lag is gradually losing importance. The important thing here is to build experience out of our differences. Patrizia Bonanzinga photographs human beings without hesitation. She takes us on a journey into their very essence. She shows us their environment, the space they inhabit. She captures the invisible bonds that bind them to one another. These interpersonal relationships form the most valuable part of her photographic project. As she travels from Maputo to the Ilha de Mozambique, she allows her lens to wander, offering us images full of warmth and tenderness. Patrizia Bonanzinga (www.patriziabonanzinga.com) is a mathematician and photographer who has lived in many countries, gleaning inspiration from each one. Her work has been shown in Italy, United States, China, Russia, Poland, Spain, France and Belgium. Her photographs have also been snapped up by several private and public collectors. She develops her work on two different levels: on the one hand, she travels to sensitive areas, with a clear intent to convey a message; on the other, she questions the relationship between photography and reality by building large-format photos where she dissects and reassembles her images, forging yet another, different kind of reality. Time Lag, her fourth book, is published by Damiani editore (Bologna, May 2011) Thetis spa Castello Arsenale –Bacini stop lines 41-42, 51-52 Press Office and PR Thetis SpA tel. 041 2406111 fax 041 5210292 Responsible: Giannandrea Mencini giannandrea.mencini@thetis.it mob 347 2823781
