LONDON – Festive balloons, bicycles, T-shirts, and flags, along with colourful nails, flamboyant hairstyles, wigs, hanging garlands, and whimsical cars. Eager anticipation in bars and cafés, the joyful screams of children playing in the streets, festively decorated provincial towns and villages – all celebrating the Giro d’Italia.

This, and much more, is captured in the photographic exhibition “Il Sabato Rosa del Villaggio”, presented by Faema, a Cimbali Group brand and official partner of the cycling event since 2022, in collaboration with Leica Camera Italia, a global leader in sports cameras and lenses. The exhibition will open to the public on 6 September at the Leica Galerie in Milan and will run until early October.

The Giro d’Italia is a sensational blend of pleasure and tradition, an experience meant to be shared, and a passionate ‘glue’ that brings people together everywhere, much like coffee enjoyed in a bar or at home. Faema understands this well, which inspired the idea for this photographic project that Leica enthusiastically embraced.

“Faema is deeply intertwined with the world of cycling and the Giro d’Italia: in the past, through the sponsorship of a team of champions, including Eddy Merckx, Italo Zilioli, and Vittorio Adorni, and in the last three years as an official partner of the event. This strong connection has allowed us to engage with a wide audience – from big cities to small rural areas – who share a passion for the “Corsa Rosa”, often following the stages while seated at café tables where Faema has been present for almost 80 years,” commented Silvia Ruggiero, Head of Communications of Cimbali Group.

Ruggiero adds: “It therefore seemed natural for us to want to capture those moments, and we once again chose photography as the preferred medium to explore the humanity of the cyclists and the audience who dream with them: photographic shots, creations infused with emotion that have transformed every moment of this journey, even the simple act of preparing a cup of coffee, into a work of art.”

Exhibition and photographers

The exhibition features photographs by four Leica photographers, showcasing ‘pink’ elements from a Saturday village scene reminiscent of Leopardi’s poetry, where people eagerly await the most popular bike race ever. Great events have marked an era, but only the Giro d’Italia has defined a community and a country, making it the focal point for the exhibition’s photographers.

Giuseppe Nucci and Piero Percoco, lecturers at the Leica Akademie Italy, together with Clara Vannucci and Vincenzo Noletto, Leica-certified photographers, immersed themselves in the crowds at several stages of the 2024 Giro d’Italia.

They sought to capture the hallmark elements of this ritual, both classic and bizarre, traditional and unusual, resulting in a remarkable display that masterfully blends past and present, curated by Maurizio Beucci, Senior Manager of the Global Leica Akademie.

“This exhibition offers a small visual journey through Italy’s local communities and villages, filtered through the eyes of four Leica photographers. Our aim is to tell a story that can be interpreted in countless ways, celebrating the beauty, culture, and emotions surrounding the Giro d’Italia, with a special focus on what the Giro means to the small villages glorified by the passing caravan. The photographs, enhanced by the extraordinary quality of our Leica equipment, provide unique, detailed, and intriguing glimpses of one of the world’s most iconic cycling events, while connecting provincial locales to the city.”

The exhibition, hosted at the Leica Galerie in Milan from 6 September to 10 October, welcomes visitors with photographs by Clara Vannucci that oscillate between dynamism and stillness. Stationary subjects are juxtaposed with moving elements, creating a visual tension that reveals the vitality and authenticity of each scene, unified by the pink colour symbolic of the Giro d’Italia. The exhibition continues with works by Piero Percoco, who delves into the provincial area and the unseen, capturing the subtle details that only meticulous observation can uncover.

Vincenzo Noletto adopts a street photographer’s approach, positioning himself close to the action, almost within it, to capture intimate fragments and faces of the Giro community. The exhibition concludes with images by Giuseppe Nucci, whose anthropological documentary work uses the color pink as a leitmotif, allegorically referencing the race.

Faema and Leica Camera Italia

Faema’s connection to both cycling and the ‘Corsa Rosa’ is deep and longstanding. This bond was renewed in 2022 with the brand’s return as an official partner of the Giro d’Italia, rekindling in fans the love that has persisted since the early 1950s. Today, this partnership continues to document the evolution of an extraordinary brand that remains innovative and cutting-edge, delivering a unique coffee experience to consumers worldwide.

Leica Camera Italia joined this Giro d’Italia photography project to celebrate the beauty and passion of both cycling and photography.

This collaboration with Faema unites two historic brands, each with a long tradition of excellence and innovation in their respective fields. The project aims to capture the essence and emotion of Italy’s most-loved cycling competition, telling unique stories through the exceptional quality of Leica lenses. It offers an opportunity to explore new visual perspectives and further strengthen the connection between sports culture and photographic art.

Summary:

“Il Sabato Rosa del Villaggio” exhibition

Where: Leica Galerie Milano, Via G. Mengoni 4, corner of Piazza Duomo, Milan

When: 6 September to 10 October 2024

Opening days and hours: Tuesday to Saturday 10-14 / 15-19

Free admission

Faema Art machine

Founded in Milan in 1945, the Faema brand is one of the leading manufacturers of professional coffee machines. Design, innovation, sustainability and coffee culture are the cornerstones of the brand’s production.

In line with the Group’s new vision, Faema offers a diversified range of solutions for coffee shops, restaurants, hotels, workplaces and the home environment: wide ranges of espresso machines (traditional and fully automatic), coffee grinders, digital services (apps and services for professionals and enthusiasts) and accessories. Faema has made history, offering lever machines in the 1950s and the Faema E61 machine in the 1960s, the first to use a volumetric pump.

Thanks to the talent of one of Italy’s most iconic designers, Giorgetto Giugiaro, and Italdesign, the Faema E91, Faema Emblema, Faema E71 range and Faema President were produced.

In 2021 the brand launched the exclusive Faemina, a machine with a minimal, elegant design with which the company is returning to the home segment, while also targeting consumers. While for the Office segment, the latest addition is the X-Compact, ideal for those contexts where the consumer directly interacts with the machine and therefore seeks ease of use.

About Leica Camera

Leica Camera AG is an internationally active manufacturer in the upper segment of the sports camera and lens sectors. The Leica brand’s legendary status is based on a long tradition of excellence in lens construction. Today, with the use of innovative technologies, Leica products continue to guarantee better images in all situations in the fields of visualisation and perception.

Leica Camera AG has its headquarters in Wetzlar, in the federal state of Hesse in Germany, while a second production site operates in Vila Nova de Famalicão, Portugal. The company operates subsidiaries in England, France, Italy, Switzerland, Japan, Singapore, South Korea, Australia and the USA. New and innovative products have been the driving force behind the company’s successful development in recent years.