Barwaqo talks on the phone with a friend. For migrants the availability of an internet connection is important to stay in touch with each other or talk to distant family members. Mobile phones are also a leisure for school days. Ferria, January 2017.
Zhara and Ifraah returning to the Ferria structure. The center is located in the mountainsnear Olivadi, a small Calabrian village with just under 500 inhabitants, where everyone knows each other. In this way migrants also have a way to socialize andintegrate.Olivadi (CZ), February 2017.
Celebrations for Emina's 43rd birthday, in the foreground on the right.Coming from the Ivory Coast, Emina hid her few savings by swallowing them,with the bitter result that once expelled from the body they were corroded and no longer valid. Notbeing able to pay all the food for the party, some shopkeepers in the area havecontributed by donating food and drink. At the birthday there are people of allethnic groups, like the Camerounis Herman and Nang, with their newborn daughter.Ferria, March 2017.
Armando draws attention before the dinner in honor of Sartip, a Kurdish migrant whohas obtained refugee status recognition and documents to move aroundEurope.Ferria, December 2017.
The main building of the Ferria structure. All refugees in this centerlive in close contact with each other, like a large multi-ethnic family.Ferria, January 2017
From left: Balla, Sagio and Ismail (from behind) hear the music through their smartphones. Ferria, December 2017.
Under the red light of an electric heater, a smartphone reproduces the video clip of a famous Somali singer. Very often artists are emigrated themselves in Europe, albeit under different conditions. Music is one of the favorite pastimes during the cold winter days. Ferria, January 2017.
Portrait of Ifraah during a snowfall. Fascinated by the snow, the Somali girls asked me several times to be portrayed, sending photographs to relatives in Africa, almost like postcards from an exotic place. Ferria, January 2017.
Refugees attend the first seasonal snowfall: Zhara rushes out to see the snow up close, while Steve and his wife Beauty watch sheltered on the balcony. Ferria, January 2017.
Hassì intones a local song from the Ivory Coast, while the other refugees applaud and exult. Ferria, March 2017.
Sagio and Traore play arm wrestling, surrounded by other refugeesthat observe the challenge. During the warmer seasons the boys at the center practice a lotphysical activity, as a fun and excuse to be together.Ferria, September 2017.
A t-shirt depicting a tiger. Women from the Horn of Africa,although they are very interested in fashion, they have a strong attachment to traditional clothesand African classical iconography.Ferria, September 2017.
First day of celebrations in honor of Eid Al-Adha, the holiest festival forthe Muslim. At the facility, the refugees have organized a large onelunch followed by singing and dancing. At the time of shopping for lunch, migrants havebought by mistake also pork, prohibited by Islam.What was of that meat, it remains a mystery.Ferria, September 2017
Detail of the elegant dress of Zhara and his watch. Dressed in her best clothes,the girl spends some moments of leisure in the center, as in a mock party.Ferria, December 2016.
View of the structure of Ferria by the dirt road that passes through the fields. Bornas a tourist farm, the center is located in the mountains, surrounded by the green of theCalabrian woods. The lands around Ferria are used by farmers and shepherds fortraditional activities such as growing and grazing animals; very often it happens thatrefugees are called to work, getting not just a bit of money, but alsoan activity to spend the days.Ferria, Olivadi (CZ). March 2017.
Nuraddin and the young wife Muna on a late summer afternoon.He relaxes by smoking a cigarette and talking about how good is for his brain,while Muna has fun with her smartphone. In the background, the property's swimming pool,emptied by a few days during the imminent winter.Ferria, October 2016.
Portrait of a Sagio during a swim in the pool.During summer the pool of the structure is filled with water and made available torefugees, provided they keep it clean.It also happens that operators transport other migrants to leisure at the facility.However, because of the traumas due to the exodus, really few succeed in enteringwater to take a bath.Ferria, August 2017.
Some migrants play with the ball together with the son of an operator.In summer the swimming pool of the structure is also frequented by young people from the village of Olivadi, which in the absence of the sea they can enjoy the spaces of Ferria and socialize with thehosted migrants.Ferria, August 2017.
Ya Ya and Lensa enjoy a summer afternoon by the pool.Ferria, August 2017.
The Italian flag on the edge of the reception facility. Most of the refugees with whom I spoke have repeatedly expressed the desire to settle down in Italy, starting here their life. However, due to the lack of an occupation and for all the problems that afflict the state, the refugees tend to moving to nations rich in job opportunities, such as Germany and Sweden. Ferria, January 2017.
Portrait of Muna with her best dress. Ferria, September 2016.
Nuraddin poses for a photograph wearing my sweatshirt: posing confident, smiling and with new clothes, the guy sends the photo to friends and distant relatives. He is one of those who did it. Ferria, September 2016.
Happy Days, Ferria
The phenomenon of migration is one of the major events of our time.
For several years now, scenes of overcrowded boats and rivers of fleeing people have become a dramatic ordinariness, in what is a humanitarian problem still far from being solved.
My Work was born as a personal investigation, a research to understand more, to really experience something about these people, to know the faces overwhelmed by suffering.
Happy days, Ferria closely follows the life after trip, the arrival in a refugee center in Italy, the moment to take a breath, to start again.
These photographs want to be a hymn to rebirth, the indirect manifesto of an increasingly blurred and distorted equality.
Over a year of work, all I was expecting to find was definitely different than what I found.
I saw a diary of quiet days, a secret story of serenity, selfies and celebrations.
I saw eyes that say ‘I’m here,
I’m fine’.
