Children, “States of childhood-Journey to a growing country: how children and adolescents live in Italy today

ROME – How do children and adolescents live in Italy today? What do they think, what do they dream? And what does the country offer them? From denatality to child poverty, from the lack of spaces for play to the use of new technologies, from social spending to nursery schools, passing from new ways of learning to school drop-out: all these themes are at the center of the journey through images signed by the international photographer Riccardo Venturi in “States of childhood – Journey to a growing country”. Hosted from 28 October 2022 to 26 February 2023 at the Museum of Rome in Trastevere, the initiative proposes an unprecedented journey in an Italy marked by too many inequalities for children and young people, but also by a great hope for the future: fighting educational poverty means say to make the country grow.

80 photos and a documentary. The multimedia project, consisting of a photographic exhibition and a documentary video, welcomed by Roma Culture, the Capitoline Superintendency for Cultural Heritage, is promoted and produced by the social enterprise With the children, as part of the Fund for the fight against juvenile educational poverty. By the Akronos Association. Museum services of Zètema Progetto Cultura. States of childhood – Journey to a growing country, with over 80 photos by Riccardo Venturi and a documentary by Arianna Massimi, crosses dozens of “educational sites”, among the over 400 selected throughout Italy and places the theme of inequalities and marginality, social exclusion and early school leaving with the aim of highlighting the complexity and difficulties, but also the possibilities of renewal and the necessary and possible change of course through experiments and “educational alliances” between schools, the third sector, institutions and families as happens with the projects described in the exhibition.

Educational poverty in Italy. In Italy, 1.4 million minors live in absolute poverty and another 2.2 million are in relative poverty. Educational and economic poverty feed each other and are passed on from generation to generation. Child educational poverty is multidimensional, the result of the economic, social and family context in which the minors live. It is not only linked to poor economic conditions, but also affects the emotional dimension, those of sociality and the ability to relate to the world and to learn.

A reportage throughout the Peninsula. From the Imagna and Brembana Valleys to Favara and Ragusa, touching the outskirts of the big cities, the report deals with highly topical issues that have often become a real emergency due to the pandemic and the lockdown. The increase in phenomena related to eating disorders, xenophobia, drug addiction, social isolation with the phenomenon of hikikomori and neet, the degradation of the suburbs, domestic violence has further highlighted the fragility of our society, highlighting how the marginality is not an isolated fact but a complex and stratified social phenomenon. The work proposed by Riccardo Venturi, twice Word Press Photo and a long experience on the theme of childhood, and by Arianna Massimi insists on the invisibility of these themes, placing itself in a dimension of listening and respect.

The impressions of the protagonists. The documentary – visible in the exhibition, curated by Ilaria Prili – tells the experiences and impressions of the protagonists, gives the word to the children involved in the activities of the projects supported by Con i Bambini, explores the new social geographies also through the contributions of characters leading figures on the Italian educational and social scene, including Marco Rossi-Doria, president of Con i Bambini and Vanessa Pallucchi, vice president of Legambiente and spokesperson for the Third Sector Forum.

The selection of over 400 projects. The Fund for the fight against juvenile educational poverty was born in 2016 from an agreement between the foundations of banking origin represented by Acri, with the Government and the Third Sector. It supports interventions aimed at removing the obstacles of an economic, social and cultural nature that prevent minors from fully enjoying the educational processes. To implement the Fund’s programs, the social enterprise was born in June 2016 With the childrena non-profit organization wholly owned by the CON IL SUD Foundation. With the Childreni through calls and initiatives has selected a total of more than 400 projects throughout Italy, supported with a contribution of over 350 million euros, reaching half a million children and young people together with their families. Through the projects, over 7,500 organizations have been networked, including the third sector, schools, public and private bodies, strengthening the “educating communities” of the territories.