October 18, 2015 – February 28, 2016

This retrospective, jointly curated by Enzo Collotti, Mari Domini, Paolo Ferrari, and Claudio Natoli, presented the most extensive collection of Tina Modotti’s photographs to date and in addition to prints made from her original negatives, the exhibition was enriched with very recent acquisitions relating not only to her photographic art, but also to her family history and her social and political engagement. These included new documents and previously unpublished photographs bequeathed by her sister Jolanda Modotti. The latter, original photographs by Tina and members of her family, document her time in Udine, her sojourn in the United States, her circle of friends there, and the period she spent in Mexico in the 1920s, while the documents include correspondence with Jolanda, Vittorio Vidali and Sylvia Thompson.

Also on display, for the first time both in Italy and Europe, were photographs pertaining to the Mexican Agricultural Free Schools, which were recently acquired by the National Institute of Anthropology and History in Mexico City thanks to the bequest of Savitri Sawhney, daughter of the Indian exile Pandurang Khankhoje. This documentation contains a series of 18 photographs taken by Tina Modotti, the existence of which remained largely unknown until very recently.

The exhibition was organized by the Udine City Council Department for Culture (Public Museums section) in partnership with the Tina Modotti Commission, and in collaboration with prestigious national and international institutions and panels. In addition to receiving the support of the Friuli Venezia Giulia Regional Authority, the project also enjoyed the collaboration of the University of Udine and the cultural association ETRARTE.