A photographic journey on the traces of the shipwreck of Pietro Querini who traced the Venice-Lofoten route in 1431, bringing home what today we call cod and stockfish. New awareness and reflections on the relationship between time and the places in which it flows. From 3 to 22 November the Palazzo delle Stelline in Milan will host the exhibition Skrei – The Journey of Valentina Tamborra, organized and promoted in collaboration with the Norwegian Seafood Council and with Tørrfisk fra Lofoten AS and edited by Roberto Mutti. We talked about it with photo reporter Valentina Tamborra ready to give us the most important stages of her journey.

Let's start with the basics. What is the Skrei?
«“ Å skrida ”in the ancient Viking language means“ to travel, to migrate, to move forward ”: the term skrei derives from this expression. The skrei is a particular type of Norwegian cod, which every year makes a real migration from the Barents Sea to the warmer waters of the northern Norwegian coast in order to reproduce .

Røst – Gøran Greger, owner of the company John Greger AS Røst

What relationship do you have with Pietro Querini's journey that inspired your story? The navigator you tracked down plotted the Venice-Lofoten route in 1431. How did you feel retracing his journey today? Where did you start from? What were the most exciting stages?
"It was mainly a phrase that struck me, a phrase taken from the diary of Pietro Querini kept at the Vatican Apostolic Library in Rome:" Nothing is more necessary for those who travel the world than to be open-minded and behave accordingly ". Querini was somehow the first travel reporter of the then unknown Lofoten Islands. His decision to write a diary of the shipwreck and its events allowed us to open a window on an ancient world of which we would otherwise have no or very few traces. As a reporter, therefore, I felt an affinity with this man who decided to be the spokesperson for a "border" world. The border guides all my research, my photographic projects. The first stop on this journey was the Vatican Apostolic Library. I was able to enter thanks to Maurizio Tuccio, from PIQL Italy, with whom I had already collaborated during my project in the Svalbard Islands. There, Monsignor Pasini and Dr. Luigina Orlandi granted me the enormous privilege of visiting the Library and seeing Querini's writing. Next, I looked for the testimonies of the two officers on board who were shipwrecked with Querini: their writings are kept in the Marciana Library in Venice. I then told about the Rialto Fish Market and finally made two trips to Røst and the Lofoten Islands, the first in the summer, and the second during the fishing season. So I touched: Rome, Venice, Svolvær, Henningsvær and finally Røst, the westernmost island of the county of Nordland ".

Interior of the Skomværfisk fishing boat

Querini's journey has given us a very precious gastronomic treasure, the stockfish. The fishermen who rescued him after a shipwreck in the Lofoten Islands passed on to him the methods of drying and preserving the cod which he then brought back to his Venice. But who are the fishermen of these remote Norwegian islands today? What did they transmit to you?
«Men who fulfill their duty, without exaltation, without a sense of heroism but with a deep awareness and professionalism. Men in love with their land, who find there what they need to live: work is hard, it is true, but it offers them a priceless sense of freedom. I have found people who know how to wait, who adapt to the rhythms of nature without forcing them.
People who, despite having seen a thousand sunrises and sunsets over the sea, are still lost in describing them, or photographing them (thanks to smartphones) ".

Røst, March 2020, Arturas – a fisherman – in one of the rare moments of rest aboard the Skomværfisk

Speaking of this trip a few days ago, you mentioned to me a new awareness that you have gained with respect to time. Tell us about it.
"As I said just now, living in certain extreme lands requires getting used to something that as an industrialized and frenetic world we have forgotten: waiting. Here times are diluted, we do what we can, not just “what we want” or whatever we organize. It is nature that dominates, man is part of it and in some way must let it lead the course of events. At first it may seem strange, even to make you "angry" in some way, but soon – with some relief – you adapt and let events simply happen. It does not mean attention, "relax" and leave to chance, but rather understanding that we have no power over everything .

Svolvær – company L. Berg Sønner AS

Querini's was a shipwreck in the strict sense of the term, but how was this trip a shipwreck for you too? Impossible not to think of Leopardi “and shipwreck is sweet to me in this sea”.
«Of course yes, but being shipwrecked is not only negative, on the contrary! As we learn from Querini himself, being shipwrecked can also mean discovering new worlds, new realities. Letting go, opening up to what can be, is something extremely precious: only in this way can we develop a conscious gaze on the world.

Svolvær, statue "The Fisherman's Wife"

Haracourt, on the other hand, said "Leaving is a bit of dying" and he did not just attribute to the journey a sense of evolution, passage and therapeutic detachment. The most intimate indication of this phrase is an invitation to explore to leave traces of us even far from our home. We know that for you the Arctic Circle is now a second home where you have planted exciting new roots. Tell us what you left there about yourself and what you bring back to Milan every time you return.
"I have left a little of my soul there, I would like to answer: I leave it, I say a little, in every place I visit and where I feel welcomed. The Arctic is a place where, from the very first time, I felt at home. For reasons that I do not fully understand, it is a place that inspires me to peace, and not terror or loneliness as one might think. The perfect silence, the absolute light, intense as I have never seen it (despite having also worked in Africa) somehow pervade me and make me feel "safe". Nature is truly extreme in these parts and must be respected and feared – but at the same time you feel a stronger sense of belonging to the land. What I bring back to Milan is that sense of slowness, of pure white, intense and real moments of exchange that I return to "frequent" in my memories when the daily frenzy assails me.

Røst- Øystein Røymo, fisherman

Skrei – The Journey is not yet a finished itinerary for you. Will it be on November 3? What should we expect from the exhibition? And from the book?
«A journey is such because it is in some way circular. You always go back somewhere sooner or later. So I return home to Milan, where this project, which has been accompanying me for more than a year and a half, will be exhibited for the first time. I am very excited and somehow "scared" as at the end of all my work – there is the desire to share it and at the same time the strange feeling of "letting it go". But the profound meaning of the work of a documentary photographer is basically this: to share. So I can't wait to tell this story, hoping it will thrill others as it thrilled me.
The exhibition is obviously a selection of the book, which is a larger corpus. But the path of both the exhibition and the book will inevitably be a narrative – word and image – because in addition to photographing I write, and the two means are inseparable for me in some way. One follows the other, one belongs to the other. I like to give voice and "face" to the stories I tell. So what I think we can expect is to "enter" the lives of these people who have allowed me to tell them and feel closer to a world so far in the imagination. But also – allow me to say – see a glimpse of Venice that is perhaps more hidden .

Venice, Rialto Fish Market. At dawn the fish stalls are prepared

The biography of Valentina Tamborra

Valentina Tamborra was born in Milan in 1983, where she lives and works. He mainly deals with reportage and portraits, loving to mix storytelling and image. He has collaborated and collaborates with some of the main NGOs and with organizations such as AMREF, Doctors Without Borders, Albero Della Vita, Emergenza Sorrisi and the Italian Red Cross. His projects have been the subject of exhibitions in Milan, Rome and Naples. He has published in the main national media (Corriere della Sera, La Stampa, la Repubblica, Il Messaggero, Il Manifesto, La Lettura, Famiglia Cristiana, Gioia) and has participated in radio and television broadcasts (Rai 1, Rai 3, Rai Italia, Sky , Radio 24, Radio Capital and Rai Radio2). He is a teacher at the Italian Institute of Photography in Milan and has held lectures and workshops at the IED (European Institute of Design) and Naba (New Academy of Fine Arts), where
Double Light, his first major personal project, after being on display gave rise to a series of conferences. In April 2018, on the occasion of the Milan Photofestival, he won the AIF Nuova Fotografia Award.

Exhibitions

2020
Skrei – the (personal) journey curated by Roberto Mutti – Ducal Castle of Corigliano Calabro – Festival “Corigliano Calabro Photography 2020” – Corigliano Rossano 5 December 2020 – 31 January 2021.
Skrei – The (personal) journey curated by Roberto Mutti – Stelline Foundation, Milan 2-22 November. Catalog of the same name published by Silvana Editoriale
Mi tular – I am the border (personal) by Royal Norwegian Embassy – Festival "SEGNI New Generations Festival" – Mantua 31 October – 8 November

2019
The world in the lens – NGO photographers (collective) by FIAF – Italian Center of Author Photography, Bibbiena (AR). June 15-September 8
Poor us. A story of Italy that does not give up (personal) by Roberto Mutti – Interface Hub Arte, Milan. Project by Monica Triglia and Valentina Tamborra for The Tree of Life. May 9-June 2.
Mi tular – I am the (personal) border curated by Sarah Lanzoni – Après-Coup Arte Gallery, Milan. Project in collaboration with Visit Norway. April 4-June 7. Catalog.
The thin red line (personal) – Villa Brivio, Nova Milanese (MI). Project in
collaboration with Doctors Without Borders. March 30-April 13.

2018
Voci di confine (personal) on the occasion of LecceFilmFest Festival of Invisible Cinema – Dajs Città del Gusto, Lecce. Project carried out for Amref Health Africa. December 26-October 21.
Nothing but fictions – A trip to Norway in Ibsen's footsteps with actress Federica Fracassi for the DuemilaLibri event (personal) – Il sextant photoclub, Gallarate (VA). 14-21 October
Chokora, the jar he wanted to play (personal) – “Voices for freedom” Festival, Amnesty International, Rosolina Mare (RO). July 19-22.
Nothing but fictions – Journey to Norway in the footsteps of Ibsen with actress Federica Fracassi (personal) – Kasa dei Libri, Milan. June 20-30.
Nothing but fictions – Journey to Norway in Ibsen's footsteps with actress Federica Fracassi (personal) – Franco Parenti Theater, Milan. May 9-20
MIA Milan Photo Fair (collective) – The Mall, Porta Nuova Varesine, Milan. March 9-12.
Nothing but fictions – Trip to Norway in the footsteps of Ibsen with actress Federica Fracassi (personal) – Despite Marras, Milan. January 29-February 25

2017
Where no one else goes. A 60-year long flight (collective) – MAXXI – National Museum of XXI Century Arts, Rome. 13-19 October.
Double light (personal) – Photographic Warehouses, Naples. July 14-28.
Chokora, the jar he wanted to play (personal) – Galleria Mario Giusti HQ, Milan 22 June-21 July.

2016
Only art makes Christmas (collective) – Mario Giusti HQ Gallery, Milan. 6 December 2016– 14 January 2017.
Double light (personal) – Mario Giusti Gallery HQ Milan. 13 October-5 November 2016

Projects

With the collaboration of the Italian Red Cross, together with Angelo Anzalone, he develops those good guys – the Italy that helps. The story of the work of the young volunteers of the Italian Red Cross from North to South, documents the field work between Sicily and Lombardy. April 2020
For Norwegian Seafood Council and Tørrfisk fra Lofoten develops the Skrei project – the journey: the story of a friendship between Norway and Italy from 1432 to today. Beyond the Arctic Circle to Venice, between fishermen and ancient markets, a journey through the tradition of cod fishing. May 2019-March 2020.
For the NGO Emergenza Sorrisi, he develops the project For an extra smile, documenting the work of the NGO in Benin and Iraq where, due to the terrible living conditions (malnutrition due to poverty, conflicts, famine) many children are born with important malformations . A story of rebirth and hope. May-November 2019.
With the support of Visit Norway, he develops the Mi tular – I am the border project, a journey to the Svalbard islands to discover the identity of those who choose to live on the edge of the world, in a place where one can neither be born nor die. June 2018-March 2019.
Take part in the Voci di confine project for Amref Health Africa, a work created to document migration from a different point of view: stories of success, of integration, of rebirth. From Bolzano to Lecce, passing through Ancona, the story of a journey towards a new life. November 2018
With the journalist Monica Triglia, he develops the Poveri noi project for the L'Albero della Vita Foundation – a story of Italy that does not give up on the new poverty in Italy: from north to south, the story in images and words of those who live below the poverty line. The project will become a traveling exhibition in five Italian cities (Milan, Naples, Genoa, Palermo, Catanzaro). September 2018
With the collaboration of Doctors Without Borders, he develops the project The thin red line going to the border between France and Italy, to Ventimiglia, Catania, Como and finally to the island of Lesbos (Greece) to tell about those who, after fleeing from their homeland, they remain stuck in limbo with the vain hope of being able to cross the border. September 2017-January 2018.
Together with the actress Federica Fracassi, with the support of Visit Norway, she develops the project Nothing but fiction – a trip to Norway on the trail of Ibsen and Peer Gynt. A photographic diary of a journey between dreams and reality. August 2017.
For the L’Albero della Vita Foundation he develops the project Playing is a serious thing, going to the earthquake-hit areas of the Marche region and collecting images and testimonies of the families involved in the events. June 2017
With Mario De Santis, journalist of Radio Capital and Amref Health Africa, he documents the history of the “chokora”, the street children of Nairobi, and their rebirth through the recycling of objects found in the city's landfills. February 2017
Cycle of conferences in collaboration with NABA (New Academy of Fine Arts) with the protagonists of Double Light: Gino & amp; Michele (March 20), Federica Fracassi (May 2), Guido Silvestri (May 18), Emilio Isgrò (May 22).
Develop the Double Light project: a double portrait and a double question – “Who are you? What are you doing?" – to the characters who have marked contemporary history. To discover the person behind the familiar face, the man behind the work. January 2016.

On the cover: Røst – Northern Lights on Valentina Tamborra's racks