As part of Refugee Week 2025, our association organized a meaningful event at the Altinate San Gaetano Cultural Center: the photographic exhibition “The Right Path.”
The exhibition offered a journey through freedom, captured by university students—both refugees and non-refugees—under the guidance of photojournalist Francesco Malavolta, a specialist in migration. It provided both an intimate and collective view into their world and perspectives. The exhibition inaugurated on June 19 and remained open to the public until July 10.
“The Right Path”: An educational journey through art and human rights
The exhibition marked the culmination of the educational program of the same name, “The Right Path,” a free initiative dedicated to exploring human rights through the language of art—specifically, photography. The sessions, organized by the association Popoli Insieme, took place between February and June of this year, involving about twenty university students. Among the participants were also refugees from Afghanistan, Pakistan, South Sudan, Ethiopia, and Ukraine, who enriched the dialogue with their valuable experiences.
The five sessions were a unique opportunity to reflect on essential and universal themes such as the right to education, gender equality, freedom of expression, environmental justice, freedom of movement, and the right to remain. The participants “walked together, engaged in dialogue, shared silences, emotions, and visions,” weaving a common thread among diverse life experiences.
Photography as a voice: “What does freedom mean to me?”
In the final phase of the educational journey, during May and June, under the expert guidance of Francesco Malavolta, participants explored photography not merely as a storytelling tool, but as a true language of self-expression—starting with one fundamental question: “What does freedom mean to me?”
The responses, captured in the participants’ photographs and reflections, revealed the multifaceted meanings this word holds. For some, freedom is “choosing my lifestyle, what to study, what to do today—from the smallest decisions to the biggest ones.” For others, it means “living without fear, loving with respect, being responsible for oneself and others.” It also means “moving freely, alone, even as a woman,” “spending time with family, watching a sister grow up,” or “speaking and acting without being controlled.” For those who have crossed borders and overcome countless obstacles, freedom is not something taken for granted—but a daily achievement.
The photographs displayed were taken using simple disposable cameras. This choice, strongly encouraged by Malavolta, held profound meaning. As he emphasized during the opening, he was not interested in the technical quality of the images. Photography was conceived as a tool for young people to reflect on the concept of freedom and to build community. Working with a disposable camera, Malavolta explained, means “having your eyes practically closed or half-closed,” yet “even through such a limited vision, one can still manage to see the essence of freedom.”
The exhibition “The Right Path” was the result of this intense journey: an intimate and collective perspective on the participants’ world and their aspirations. It featured the works of the young participants alongside a selection of photographs by Malavolta himself, offering a deep and authentic look into forced migration and fundamental human rights.
Thursday, June 19th: the exhibition opening
On the opening day, during Refugee Week, photographer Francesco Malavolta was also present and captivated the audience with insights into the deeper meaning of some of his works and the motivations behind his lifelong commitment.
As Malavolta himself shared, photography entered his life almost by chance, eventually becoming a true calling: “My encounter with photography was accidental. It chose me. (…) One day, photography became part of my life, turning into a profession.”
Similarly, his first encounter with the subject of his photography was equally accidental and powerful: “I was in Puglia and I found myself witnessing the landing of Albanian refugees fleeing dictatorship. I was drawn to this multitude of people who had left everything behind in pursuit of a dream of freedom, and to the challenge of capturing movement within a still image.”
As he highlighted, the exhibition stems from the need to tell these stories: “Popoli in movimento aims to place the stories of individuals at the center, in contrast to the recurring narrative that reduces refugees to mere numbers.”
For over twenty years, his work has been almost entirely dedicated to documenting migration flows by land and sea. His aim is to “pay tribute to a resilient humanity that, step by step, gains inches of freedom.”
Several participants from the photography workshop also took part in the event. They shared their reflections on the concept of freedom and presented their work to the public, offering unique and personal interpretations of this universal theme. The Popoli Insieme team was also present, having worked with dedication on preparing and setting up the exhibition. The opportunity to interact directly with the young artists and photographer Malavolta turned the event into a genuine forum for dialogue—a valuable occasion to delve deeper into the themes of freedom and human rights, reinforcing the idea that each photograph is a fragment of life, an invitation to reflect, and a step toward greater mutual understanding.
