FEDERICO FELLINI - Genius of Humanity
A TRIBUTE TO HUMAN RIGHTS
From 1st to 13thDecember
AT BACC Auditorium, BANGKOK, THAÏLAND
On the occasion of Human Rights Day 2020 and the Centennial of the birth of Federico Fellini, the Embassy of Italy in Bangkok is pleased to present this exhibition by the Fellini Foundation (Sion, Switzerland) in homage to Federico Fellini. The exhibition premiered at the Palace of Nations in Geneva on the occasion of the election of Italy to the United Nations Human Rights Council (February 2019). It is a historic place where the world’s most important international organization working for peace and security - The UNITED NATIONS - defends, together with the community of nations, the human rights on which our civilizations are founded. Here the role of films in culture will remind us of the importance of human values at the heart of the artistic process.
From his first films Fellini established himself as a great painter of the human conditionand focused on the destiny of ordinary characters or of those rejected by society (La Strada - 1954, Nights of Cabiria - 1957, Il Bidone - 1955). This ability to convey humanity with an empathy which allowed for satire brings Fellini closer to Chaplin, of whom he said after his death: “He was a sort of Adam we’re all descended from.”
“We must accept the time in which we live. We have no choice. Having said that, I feel that my mission in life, my vocation if you will, is to be a witness; and if your life consists of such testimony, you have to accept what you witness. Sure, you can be nostalgic about the past and how great it was, and you can lament the erosion of values, but there’s no point in doing that. From a generational point of view, I’m aware that there’s a certain regret about things past, but I personally try to live with the confidence that the future will assimilate the past. The past will transform itself into the future, so in a sense it will be relived - not in regret, but as part and parcel of the world to come.”
Federico Fellini Interviews
Bert Cardullo, 2006, University Press of Mississipi
QUOTES
“A journey through photos, drawings and words from Federico Fellini’s movies, to discover a poetic message in defense of the outcasts and those left behind. Because those suffering from their exclusion from society are more likely to express their feelings in an artistic and creative form. Art can thus be a pathway to inclusion.”
H.E. Mr. Lorenzo Galanti, Italian Ambassador to Thailand
“The Fellini Foundation is honoured to present this exhibition in homage to Federico Fellini as part as the Centenary of the birth of the great Maestro. The exhibition Federico Fellini, Genius of Humanity – A Tribute to Human Rights invites us to revisit some of the most important works in the history of cinema and, more widely, in twentieth-century art. Crowned with five Oscars and feted at the most illustrious film festivals, Fellini’s work has become universal in its appeal because, with the full force of poetry, it asks questions about the identity of modern man, about his place in time, about death, power, desire and, finally, about the very nature of his freedom. The independence of the creator, the conscience of a common humanity, the mistrust of the rituals of power – these fundamental values at the core of Fellini’s work make sense today more than ever. They give us the courage to defend one of the most basic human rights, the liberty of expression. In every one of his films Fellini seems to tell us: you too are an artist!”
Prof. Stéphane Marti
President of the Fellini Foundation
Curator