On September the 26th, 2020,  Luigi Fieni will be opening his first photographic exhibition in Asia. His bond with this continent was born thanks to restoration, his main profession, which led him so far from his country, Italy. By chance, or maybe Karma is the word it should be used, what should have been a couple of months project of conservation in Nepal, turned to be his longest experience on the Himalaya as a conservator. Thanks to the American Himalayan Foundation he had the chance to work for the past 12 years restoring masterpieces of Tibetan art in Nepal, spending most of his time in Mustang in the difficult task to train local people into the art of conservation.

Photography was born in 2004: due to work obligations Luigi had to buy a professional camera to document the restoration work for the American Himalayan Foundation. Some of those first photos he took for fun, to show his friends what the Himalaya meant to him, and they ended up in a National Geographic book. [1] Some others received international awards and it was by that time that Luigi Fieni took seriously photography as a mean to express himself in a new way: try to talk through the camera shutter.

Luigi Fieni’s photography could be summed up as an art critic recently wrote: “Impressionistic photography, which paints the energy’s spikes of religious dances, of local community festivals. From vortex, his photography calms down to become motionless contemplation, among the silence of the valleys and in front of the sacred statues. Let’s close our eyes and hear the colours of silence.” [2]

[1] "Himalaya: personal stories of grandeur, challenge and hope". National Geographic Society,  2006
[2] Alessia d'Epiro, an essay in  "Nepal: the Colour of Silence"  (02.04-27.08.2010) Sperlonga, Italy