NATIVE LAND
The topic of migration routes is highly complex and difficult to address. The myriad facets of the many situations that confront it, whether by choice or by necessity, often fail to find the appropriate space to give voice to those who are directly affected. Furthermore, political and social prejudice too often obscures the reality and scale of this phenomenon, which every year involves millions of people forced to abandon their "native lands" in search of a safe haven from war, hunger, and climate change.
With these aims, Native Land was born, an ambitious photographic project launched in early 2022. It aims to document the reality and stories of people on the move who cross European borders in search of a better future. It seeks to draw public attention to all the phases that constitute migratory routes, seeking to give space to realities that are often unknown. The name Native Land (in Italian Terra Nativa) is intended to be a provocation against the idea of origin associated with the country of origin versus the origins that unite each of us with the Earth, aiming to convey the concept that all the crises facing our planet, from wars to climate change, can only be resolved by addressing them by joining forces.
Armed with his camera, Carlo Bianchetti, an Italian photojournalist born in 1995, began his journey along the coasts of southern Italy, his first destination after crossing the Mediterranean. Lampedusa, perhaps his most well-known destination, was only the first stop on a journey that has so far taken him to Roccella Jonica, Oulx, Claviere, Trieste, and Trento, where, between landings and borders, he has documented the daily life of these places, which daily face the challenges of migratory routes. But not just Italy: the project is periodically expanding, having already crossed the territories of Athens in Greece, for many years one of the undisputed protagonists of the Balkan Route; Melilla in Africa, the problematic border between Morocco and Spain; and Serbia, on the border with Hungary, currently one of the most active and violent along the entire Balkan Route. To listen and tell, through his photographs, the stories of these places and of the people who inhabit and pass through them. The project is constantly updated to try to cover, over time, all the points of interest along all the migratory routes.
The aim of this work is to highlight the reasons that drive people to undertake long and dangerous journeys, giving voice to all the realities that, in silence and indifference, have become a fundamental point of reference for all People on the Move heading to Europe and beyond. It recounts part of their journey, their life stories, and the extreme humanity that, despite the difficulties, they are able to preserve.
