Michael Yamashita. In the footsteps of Marco Polo

The Fortress of Bard at Aosta Valley is hosting an extraordinary photographic exhibition by Michael Yamashita, a renowned photographer of Japanese origin and a leading figure in the National Geographic. The exhibition celebrates the historical and cultural ties between East e The West, retracing the epic journey of the Venetian explorer Marco Polo through a perspective capable of questioning time and examining the memory of the places described in Il Milione.

The exhibition itinerary comprises no fewer than 88 photographs with striking visual impact and refined formal composition, accompanied by historical and artistic analysis. The photographs document landscapes and communities along the historic Silk Road, taking in countries brimming with charm and millennia-old allure such as Turkey, Iran, Afghanistan, China, Burma e India. From the picturesque dunes of Dunhuang to the enchanting architecture of Bagan, right down to everyday life on the waters of the’Inle Lake or in the villages of the Xinjiang, the aim of Yamashita reveals a complex cultural diversity poised between tradition and modernity.

The exhibition is enriched by a valuable collection of historical and scientific artefacts curated by Michelangelo Lupo, which includes the first edition in the Italian vernacular of Il Milione held by the Queriniana Library, Brescia, a period portrait from the Provincial Museums of Gorizia, a copy of the Original will, as well as historic armillary spheres and globes.