Rimbalzi (Rebounds) brings together thirty photographs selected from the Intesa Sanpaolo Publifoto Archive and the photography section of the bank’s Historical Archives. The exhibition takes the form of a large virtual wall on which to view the images and to read in-depth information on the context in which each shot was made.
The project makes it possible to rediscover and enhance the value of a legacy, which with seven million images of newsworthy events, politics, lifestyle, society, culture, sport, landscape and architecture, made in Italy and abroad across the 20th century, becomes a precise, thrilling chronicle of that period of time.
As the title indicates, the “rebounds”, a metaphor of all games played with a ball, are at the centre of this investigation. An iconic though very simple object, the ball has crossed many eras and represented cultures, connected with the idea of play and sport. Its social history is composed of people and places: children and senior citizens, amateurs and professional athletes, playgrounds, schools, courtyards, but also big stadiums where famous contests have taken place.
The photographs reconstruct an evocative story of different generations and historical moments, in which games – from tennis to football, basketball to rugby, by way of bocce, table soccer and golf – have been a catalyst and activator of human relations.
Rimbalzi is also a tribute to the Nitto ATP Finals of tennis, held for the first time in Torino in the month of November.
Until 5 December 2021, Rimbalzi, curated by Ilaria Bonacossa, director of Artissima, and Barbara Costa, in charge of the Historical Archives of Intesa Sanpaolo, with iconographic research by Serena Berno, will be available online, while at the same time a selection of the photographs will be on view in the spaces of the Intesa Sanpaolo building in Torino.