La dote di Latera
The inhabitants of Latera, where until the 1950s the cultivation of cannabis sativa for textile fiber production was central to the local economy, took part in a participatory art project. Many families still preserve handwoven fabrics passed down through generations. We asked the residents to donate some of these often unused textiles and collected stories related to the tradition of the dowry: the linen set that parents gave to their daughter for her wedding. The processing of hemp required collective organization. After harvesting, it was buried in the shores of the lake to macerate, transformed into fibers, and given to weavers.
The collected stories testify to the importance of these fabrics as symbols of care, shared labor, and sustenance.
The final artwork is a large sheet made by sewing together the donated fabrics, decorated with cyanotype prints that reconstruct a photograph of the seamstresses from the 1950s. This work pays tribute to the community of Latera and its traditions, highlighting how knowledge from the past can inspire solutions to contemporary challenges, such as pollution caused by the textile industry and fast fashion. Hemp, grown using natural methods, is a sustainable fiber that requires less water than cotton and promotes a circular economy. Traditions like those of Latera offer more ethical production models capable of healing the relationship between humans and the environment.
Project featured in Giovane Fotografia Italiana #12 | UNIRE / BRIDGING
BIO
Daniele Cimaglia (1994) and Giuseppe Odore (1995)
Daniele Cimaglia (Rome, 1994) and Giuseppe Odore (Pompei, 1995) studied photography and audiovisual arts at RUFA – Rome University of Fine Arts.
Fascinated by vernacular photography and darkroom printing experimentation, they develop photographic projects that actively involve local communities, creating a dialogue between collective memory and contemporary languages.
In 2020, with the photographic series Storie dell’abitare, they win Refocus 2 (a competition for photographic projects exploring post-lockdown Italy, promoted by the Directorate General for Contemporary Creativity and MUFOCO). In 2023, for Archivio Atena and in collaboration with Nunzia Pallante, they created the installation Mamma Quercia: a linen and cotton mantle, decorated with archive photographs from the family albums of the communities of Atena Lucana, printed in cyanotype. The piece was then assembled and embroidered with the precious contribution of local seamstresses.