Wooden Diamonds is a photographic reportage in three acts by Filippo Ferraro. The project explores the ties between the population of Salento to its olive groves: how does this relationship allow them to (re)define themselves collectively?
ACT I: THE DISASTER – Since 2013, a killer bacterium, Xylella fastidiosa, has destroyed 700,000 hectares
and decimated almost 20 million olive trees in Salento, southern Puglia. Due to this ecological and economic disaster, it served the ancestral link between the local populations, the olive trees and the territory has been interrupted. Given their central role in the landscape and culture of southern Italy,
the death of olive trees marks the loss of a shared identity, as well as their disappearance, heritage and
centuries-old traditions.
ACT II: HOPE – Since then, research has made rapid progress. New varieties of olive trees resistant to
Xylella fastidiosa have been discovered and have been replanted. The olive wood from the centenary trees affected by the bacterium is processed and sold to contribute to reforestation efforts.
ACT III: REBIRTH – Despite the difficulties, the population of Salento has shown exceptional resilience.
Olive trees are being replanted to recreate the devastated landscape and, against all odds, olive growing
is slowly being reborn, bringing back the traditions and history of Salento.
March 21st 2024 – May 17th 2024
Free admission
Istituto Italiano di Cultura di Montréal
1200 Av. du Dr Penfield
• from Monday to Thursday: 9am – 1pm and 2pm – 5pm
• Only Wednesday’s until 8pm
• Friday: 9am – 1pm
Filippo Ferraro, born in 1990 in Casarano (Puglia), lives and works in Trieste. He is an Italian documentary photographer. After studying law, he dedicated himself to photography. In an era of climate change, his work questions our relationship with the environment and how this relationship
defines our individual and collective identity. In 2022 he was shortlisted for the Leica Oskar Barnack
Award and won the Andrei Stenin International Press Photo Contest. His work has been exhibited in Italy, France, Germany, Russia, Colombia, the United Kingdom, South Africa and India.
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