Faces and Colours of the Asti Palio

The exhibition Faces and Colours of the Asti Palio celebrates the 750 years from the first documented edition of Palio of Asti (1275), paying homage to one of the most ancient Italian folk traditions. The exhibition is developed in a visual and narrative route uniting photography, history, art and city identityoffering an emotional and intense reading of an event that is ritual, memory and belonging.

The heart of the exhibition is the photographic portraits made by Claudio Vergano of the study White and Black, in operation since the 1970s. The subjects - characters from historical Palio procession - were photographed in the studio, outside the context of the fashion show, in poses full of introspection and intensityemphasised by lighting inspired by the Caravaggesque chiaroscuro. The result is evocative imageswhich tell not only about people, but the entire symbolic universe of the Palio.

Alongside the portraits, there is an exhibition of the Drapes of the Palio offered to the Collegiate Church of San Secondo between 2000 and 2019. Each banner is the work of a contemporary artistwho reworked the iconography of San Secondo on horseback with the Asti turrita with their own style, giving a surprising variety of interpretations. The associated information sheets include the names of the artists, winning districts, jockeys and horsesenriching the reading of the works with historical and cultural details.

The exhibition, curated by Francesco Antonio Leporeis the result of a choral collaboration which involved local institutions, artists and photographers, reaffirming the importance of the Palio as a identity symbol of the city of Asti.