Italian Routes will take viewers on ideal journey across the Italian Alps and Apennines, and then on to the Earth's most important mountain ranges. Photo courtesy of the Italian Embassy in Hà Nội

HÀ NỘI — Photographs depicting the beauty of the mountains and common culture of mountaineering between Việt Nam and Italy are being displayed at a dual exhibition at the Việt Nam Museum of Ethnology in Hà Nội.

Italian Routes and Landscapes of Việt Nam, is a project of the Italian Ministry of Foreign Affairs curated by the Italian photographer and environmentalist Fabiano Ventura in cooperation with the non-profit association Macromicro.

Italian Routes is one of the initiatives put forward by Italy on the occasion of the Italian and UK co-presidency of the 26th United Nations Climate Change Conference of the Parties (COP26), to be held in Glasgow in November this year.

Speaking at the opening ceremony of the exhibition, Italian Ambassador to Việt Nam Antonio Alessandro, said Italian Routes aims to pursue the dual goal of promoting a better knowledge of the mountain habitat and increasing awareness on the devastating impact of climate change.

Việt Nam is the first destination before moving to other cities in Asia. The exhibition was held earlier at the Museum of Fine Arts in Hồ Chí Minh City from 20 May until 12 June before it was introduced to Hà Nội.

The Ambassador said: “The choice of Việt Nam is not accidental. Việt Nam and Italy are very vulnerable to the effects of climate change. The exhibition is a tribute to the efforts of our two countries in the preservation of the environment and natural habitats.

“2021 is indeed a crucial year. The COVID-19 pandemic reminds us all of the delicate relationship between people and nature. We need to invest more on the health of our planet.

"All efforts must be made to ensure that we keep the rise of global warming below 1.5 C degrees. That is why the COP26 is so important. The world’s governments must make ambitious commitments if they want to achieve this objective.”

2021 also sees Italy’s Presidency of the G20, whose motto is “People, Planet, Prosperity”.

The G20 Ministerial meeting on environment, climate and energy is taking place today in Naples.

Also on display are the works of three Vietnamese photographers, Hoàng Thế Nhiệm, Hoàng Giang Hải and Trần Đặng Đăng Khoa. Photo courtesy of the Italian Embassy in Hà Nội

Italian Routes will take viewers onto a journey across the Italian Alps and Apennines, and then on to the Earth's most important mountain ranges, underlining the continuity of the mountain habitats at global level. 

Mountains are portrayed in their breathtaking beauty and majesty. At the same time, comparative historical and contemporary images highlight the reduction of the glacial masses due to climate change and its effects on the mountain landscape.

The exhibition displays also the first mountain explorations, with a section dedicated to historical and modern equipment.

 Italian Routes is accompanied by “Landscapes of Việt Nam - Ecological Diversity, New Climate Pattern, New Discovery”, displaying the works of three remarkable Vietnamese photographers, Hoàng Thế Nhiệm, Hoàng Giang Hải and Trần Đặng Đăng Khoa on Việt Nam’s most famous caves and mountains.

Four online events will be organised, dedicated respectively to mountaineering (July 31), rope climbing (August 7), photography (August 14), and climate change (August 19).

These events will be promoted by Ly Thi Auction House with the support of Vietnamese institutions and experts. They will be streamed online on the Facebook pages of the Embassy and of the Museum.

Italian Routes and Landscapes of Việt Nam will open to the public at the Việt Nam Museum of Ethnology from 8:30am  to 5:30pm till August 23 with free entrance, subject to social distance regulations.

At the moment, the duo exhibition is only available to pre-registration, with no more than five visitors at a time, at culturale.hanoi@esteri.it. The visiting time will be arranged depending on the pandemic situation in Hà Nội and the regulations of the local authorities. All visitors have to strictly follow pandemic prevention measures.

Fabiano Ventura is a professional photographer specialising in environmental topics and in mountain and landscape photography.

He has organised and taken part in many scientific, photographic and alpine expeditions, in some of the world’s wildest and most inaccessible places, like the Italian alpine-scientific expedition “K2 2004 – 50 Years Later” in 2004 or the expedition attempting to open a new route to the peak of Mount Jasemba (7,352 metres). VNS