By
Elizabeth Robinson |
Costa Cruises will celebrate its 70th anniversary with an art exhibition by Italian photographer Oliviero Toscani in Genoa, Italy this July.
Due to open on 6 July at the Palazzo Ducale, in Genoa under the patronage of the Liguria Region and Genoa City Council, the exhibition will be supported by digital imaging partner Canon Italia. Themed around happiness, the exhibition is titled ‘Oliviero Toscani. Ladro di Felicitಒ (Happiness² Thief) and consists of more than 100 photographs of happy guests, which were ‘stolen’ by Toscani onboard Costa Pacifica during a week-long cruise in the Caribbean that began on 31 March.
“It is said that in theatre, cinema or television, it is easier to make people cry than laugh,” said Toscani. “The same thing is true of photography, it is easier to photograph horrors, wars, famines, unhappiness than peace, love, harmony, happiness. Having happiness as a theme to photograph is a great privilege and a great challenge.”
The exhibition, which will be curated by Flavio Arensi and installed by Peter Bottazzi, will remain on display at the Palazzo Ducale until 14 October. It will be accompanied by an exhibition catalogue that will include a preface by the Italian art critic Philippe Daverio and be published by Mondadori Electa. Visitors will also be able to see a number of images taken by guests who took part in a series of thematic workshops conducted by Toscani and his associates during their stay onboard Costa Pacifica.
“Since 1948, the year of Costa’s foundation, many things have changed, but we continue to work with a single goal: to make our guests happy,” said Luca Casaura, senior vice president of global and strategic marketing at Costa Cruises. “This is why we thought of dedicating an exhibition to happiness to celebrate our 70th anniversary, entrusting ourselves to a master of photography like Oliviero Toscani, who has been able to capture the true essence of a Costa cruise. It is a very special project we wanted to give to Genoa, our city, thanks to the collaboration with local institutions.”
Starting in May, a selection of 10 photos taken by Oliviero Toscani will also be on display for the first time onboard Costa ships.