Claudine Doury - Solstice

From 25 September to 12 October 2024 – Opening on 24 September at 6.30pm

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Rifugio Digitale, Via della Fornace, 41 Firenze, Italia
Open to the public: Tuesday to Saturday from 11 am to 7 pm

It’s the longest day of the year. The day when the sun seems to stand still. Light floods the earth and resonates on beings, life is reborn. Called Kupala by the Slavs, Kupalès by the Balts, the night of the solstice is a traditional celebration. Its roots lie in pagan festivals closely linked to the forces of nature and the worship of the sun. It is the time of the fertile earth and fertility rituals based on women’s incantations around water and fire. Every June 21 for more than 10 years, I’ve traveled from St. Petersburg to Maloyaroslavets in Russia, to the island of Lake Ives in Belarus, to Kaunas, Vilnius and the Polish and Latvian countryside, to witness the summer solstice and bear witness to this very special time when the peoples of the North celebrate the return of light. Between documentary and fiction, Solstice is a personal and imaginary narrative based on ritual celebrations. My aim is to give an account of the invisible forces that move through places and people during the white nights. Of the communion of time and the cycles of the earth.