A permanent exhibition in large format: the images of the producers of the Municipality of Barbaresco printed on materials that defy time, such as the noble labels of Barbaresco Docg. A journey through set portraits and characters at work in the vineyard and in the cellar; and that revolves around the symbolic monument of the town in the province of Cuneo, in the heart of the Langhe Monferrato Roero, Unesco Heritage
The photographic exhibition Faces of Barbaresco was inaugurated on Saturday 19 June, a path through black and white images in large format, set up in the enclosed spaces and around the medieval tower of Barbaresco. The permanent exhibition en plein air features 39 Faces of Barbaresco Docg: they are the producers who have made this small town in the Langhe, in the province of Cuneo - of only 600 inhabitants and 41 wineries - great and famous in the wine world. the name of an entire denomination of controlled and guaranteed origin (it also includes Treiso, Neive and a fraction of Alba).
The project wanted by the Municipality of Barbaresco was carried out between December and May 2021 by Max Rella , journalist and photographer of travel, wine tourism, wine and gastronomy. An articulated photographic project that was created to give a face to producers, often unknown to most despite the notoriety of many wineries and some labels: a collection of portraits, set and not, and characters at work while working, among the vineyards, the barrels and other tools of the trade. A project that reopens the cultural season of the Torre di Barbaresco and the Cavazza Museum; also presented the black and white catalog " Faces of Barbaresco " and the collection of video-pills "An Year in Barbaresco".
There are 39 images printed on plasticized polymeric adhesive PVC , which resists a few years to bad weather (sun, rain, humidity, etc.), reproducing as faithfully as possible the rendering of black and white. And they are accompanied by other 39 small images in B&W and by a text of maximum 150 characters in Italian and English, referring to each protagonist. The explanatory plates also include the QR code which refers to the site of each individual winery.
The exhibition then continues inside the Torre di Barbaresco in the spaces of the Cavazza Museum, but with other images of the same producers projected in color on the internal stone and brick walls. The review is completed by the collection of video pills - again in black and white - in which each producer freely narrates A Year in Barbaresco : from the most distant to the most recent, from the most favorable to the most difficult; but also a year in which a beautiful and important event for the life of the producer took place, such as the birth of a child, a marriage or even the victory of Italy at the World Cup.
All this in a symbolic place of the town, its ancient medieval tower, a site steeped in history and energy: a square "stele" 30 meters high and 9 meters per side, embedded in a sandstone base, which from the 'XI century stands out on the rolling hills of the Langhe - now a Unesco World Heritage Site - watching and watching over the Tanaro valley.
Fallen for a long time in neglect in the summer of seven years ago, it has been recovered and today it has become a powerful cultural and wine tourism vehicle: its internal museum in 2019 welcomed over 30 thousand visitors (40% on the year before) and collected 130 thousand euros of entrance fees, resources reinvested in personnel, cultural projects and improvements. A project with a happy ending carried out by the Municipality of Barbaresco, which was then led by the former mayor Alberto Bianco, now deputy mayor and also creator of the exhibition Faces of Barbaresco ; this project elaborated and developed together with the author Max Rella.
Finally, the exhibition is accompanied by the black and white catalog Volti di Barbaresco , edited and produced by Edizioni Pubblicità Italiana , the Modenese publishing house specializing in the world of food and wine (publishes the magazines Premiata Salumeria Italiana ; Il Pesce ; Eurocarni ).
The preface was signed by Sergio Miravalle , a well-known long-time food and wine journalist, for years at the newspaper La Stampa and today director of the quarterly magazine of culture and territory of Asti .
The volume completes the photographic project with other images of the producers themselves and of the territory and was created with the support of local promotion bodies and agencies: Ente Turismo Langhe Monferrato Roero ; CRC Foundation ; Wine Experience agency.
The visit to the Tower is free and free, every day no one excluded from 10 to 24; same times for the visit to the Cavazza Museum, inside the structure, this however with admission of 5 €, reduced 4 €. And it is also possible to take advantage from morning to night of the new and panoramic Bistrot della Torre , with 50 outdoor seats: for a glass of wine, ranging from over one hundred labels (Barbaresco in great strength, various Nebbioli, classic method bubbles from Alta Langa and Champagne); or for a typical dish, from classic Piedmontese appetizers such as raw meat with Albese and Vitello Tonnato, up to Ravioli del Plin and selections of local cured meats and cheeses (prices: € 7-15 per course).
