On Thursday, September 12th, the first exhibition event organized as part of the Genova Jeans Week (October 1-6) opens to the public. With the exhibition “Porto” i pantaloni. Un viaggio tra i luoghi, le merci e gli uomini protagonisti dello scalo genovese the countdown begins to the grand event of the Municipality of Genoa dedicated to jeans, which, we remind you, owes its name to our city.
The exhibition hosted at the MEI – National Museum of Italian Emigration tells how the history of Genoa and its port intertwines with that of jeans.
Since the Middle Ages, the Genoese port has been the commercial crossroads for cotton and indigo pigment, fundamental raw materials for the birth of the sturdy and economical Genoese fustian, which, dyed blue and shipped from Genoa, would then be produced worldwide to be made into the most popular trousers ever, as well as the ultimate work garment.
“Porto i pantaloni” – produced by the Municipality of Genoa and curated by the DocSAI Center, develops into a digital and interactive photographic journey through the places, means, and protagonists of the port, the historical engine and nerve center of the city.
Through the exploration of panoramic views from the second half of the 19th century to the 1960s, visitors will embark on a journey through time, independently delving into various points of interest in search of a Genoa that no longer exists, with the support of touch-screen monitors and multimedia videos, from the Lanterna to the Darsena, passing through the “bridges” and “quays,” through the faces of the “camalli” (dockworkers) intent on unloading cotton bales, they will discover the great changes that have involved the entire city. The expansion of the port, the connection with the Genoa-Turin railway, the renovation of the cargo handling system, the increase in commercial traffic, are just some of the themes addressed in the exhibition.
The images on display come from the Documentation Center for the History, Art, and Image of Genoa, DocSAI, in particular from the Historical Photographic Archive and the Topographic Collection. The DocSAI Center is part of the Civic Museums and is located in the Dependencies of Palazzo Rosso, a stone’s throw from the Strada Nuova Museums.
The contents of the exhibition can be accessed through multimedia tools that will utilize the stations in the final section of the MEI visit route, whose interface will be adapted for the exhibition.
The interactive touch screen totems will allow visitors to navigate the exhibition images autonomously, organized on a series of thematic menus, in a simple and intuitive way, and a wall video projection will show a selection of photographs with related commentary on a loop.
All the contents of the installations can be enjoyed in both Italian and English, through the language choice option available at the start of the experience.
The exhibition can be visited at MEI until the end of the Jeans Week, Sunday, October 6, 2024.