HEAD ON Photo Festival
The Istituto Italiano di Cultura is Sydney is pleased to renew once again in 2019 its collaboration with the Head On Photo Festival by showcasing at Paddington Town Hall the exhibition The Valley of Shadows by photographer Camillo Pasquarelli. The Institute will also host the exhibition Hands by photographer Monia Merlo, which will be displayed at the Institute within the same Festival.
The Valley of Shadows: The valley of Kashmir, a territory disputed by India and Pakistan since 1947, is one of the most militarized zones in the world. In 2010 the Indian government provided security forces deployed in the area with a new weapon. Shotgun shells filled with hundreds of small lead pellets, defined as a “non-lethal” weapon. On 8 July 2016 guerrilla group Hizbul-e-Mujahideen’s young commander Burhan Wani was killed in an encounter by the Indian army. Popular especially among the youth thanks to his use of social networks to spread his message, Wani’s martyrdom was the sparkle that lighted up the entire valley. Hundreds of young boys filled the streets of Kashmir protesting against the “Indian occupation”, throwing stones against the army and the Kashmiri police. Security forces, since July 2016, responded using pellet guns extensively. According to a recent released UN report, the new weapon is responsible for blinding around 1000 people and killing dozens. Carrying dozens of pellets in their bodies, victims face unknown long-term health consequences. Left partially or totally blind, victims speak of the darkness descended upon their lives. The only things left to see are the faint shadows that surround them.
https://www.headon.com.au/exhibitions/valley-shadows 
Camillo Pasquarelli is a documentary photographer based in Rome. Only after completing his studies in political science and anthropology, he decided to devote himself entirely to photography. Nowadays, is mostly interested in personal and long-term projects and deals with documentary photography trough the combination of the anthropological approach and the photographic medium.
Since 2015 he has been working on a visual project about the valley of Kashmir, India, exploring the notion and the experience of conflict, memory, religion and political aspirations. In 2016 he received one of the Alexia Foundation Student Grant to keep working on his long-term project “The endless winter of Kashmir”.
https://www.camillopasquarelli.com
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