In the ancient Viking tongue, “å skrida” means “to travel, to migrate, to move forward”: from this expression the term skrei is derived.
In the ancient Viking tongue, “å skrida” means “to travel, to migrate, to move forward”: from this expression the term skrei is derived. The skrei is a particular type of Norwegian cod, which each year completes a veritable migration from the Barents Sea towards its breeding grounds in the warmer waters off the northern Norwegian coast. And the journey itself is the common thread connecting the story of a fish with the story of courageous men. A story of migration, exploration, and discovery, which, beginning in Venice and passing through Rome, finished beyond the Arctic Circle, in Norway’s Lofoten Islands. A journey of many kilometres, through distant eras and worlds that are nevertheless connected to one another, and where food forms a bond between peoples. The departure point is a fifteenth-century diary preserved in the Vatican Apostolic Library, the first “travel reportage” dedicated to northern Norway, which reveals the life of the fishermen in that remote part of the world. Writing it in his own hand was Pietro Querini, Venetian nobleman and merchant, shipwrecked along with his crew off the coasts of the then-unknown Lofoten Islands in 1432. Out of this disaster arose the indissoluble bond that ties Italy to Norway: a terrible event transformed into an opportunity to bring peoples and cultures together. It is the encounter that guides this journey, which from Rome passed through Venice, Svolvær, Henningsvær and, finally, Røst, the westernmost island in the County of Nordland. Through the stories of a descendent of Pietro Querini who keeps alive the memory of his ancestor and shares his ideals of brotherhood and generosity, we come to stories of fishermen in a land of extremes, dominated by the rhythms of nature and where fish are practically the only source of livelihood; of a fish market that is the beating heart of Venice and stands on the ruins of the Querini family palazzo; of a “poor” fish, at home in the ice and the wind, that becomes a delicacy of Italian cuisine. “Skrei – The Journey” is, first and foremost, the story of a friendship: between men– and between worlds. Beyond the Arctic Circle, all the way to Italy.
Skrei – The Journey: A Story Between Italy and Norway Valentina Tamborra
Just Follow the Road Roberto Mutti
In the Lines of the Individual: Valentina Tamborra’s Norwegian Photographs Nicola Gardini
EXHIBITIONS
ROME – ITALY Museo di Roma in Trastevere 27 may – 4 september 2022
The 50 photographic images created between 2018 and 2019 by Milanese photographer Valentina Tamborra are the result of two Arctic reportage projects born from her residency: Skrei – The Journey and Mi Tular – I Am the Border.
“Skrei – The Journey begins in the Biblioteca Apostolica Vaticana in Rome and then moves to the Biblioteca Nazionale Marciana in Venice, where the records of Pietro Querini’s adventurous voyage in 1432 are preserved. Having survived the shipwreck of his vessel, Querini reached the Lofoten Islands and was assisted by local fishermen, from whom he learned the methods of cod preservation, which he later exported to Venice upon his return.
In Mi Tular – I Am the Border, Valentina Tamborra travels to the Svalbard Islands, a frozen patch of land nestled in the Arctic Ocean, where polar bears and humans contend for an invisible border. The word Tular, which in ancient Etruscan means ‘I am the border,’ evokes the myth of Ultima Thule, the last island beyond the known world.”
VENICE, ITALY Fondazione Querini Stampalia 2 – 31 October 2021
The Fondazione Querini Stampalia hosts the photographic exhibition Skrei – The Journey by Valentina Tamborra, organized and promoted in collaboration with the Norwegian Seafood Council and Tørrfisk fra Lofoten AS, and curated by Roberto Mutti.
The exhibition features around 40 photographs, some of them large-format, by the Milanese photographer, with the project revolving around the theme of travel.
MILAN, ITALY Palazzo delle Stelline 2 Novembre 2020 – 26 February 2021
The Fondazione Stelline hosts the photographic exhibition Skrei – The Journey, organized and promoted in collaboration with the Norwegian Seafood Council and Tørrfisk fra Lofoten AS, and curated by Roberto Mutti.
“This project pays homage to Rome and Venice, leading to the Norwegian Lofoten Islands, the heart of the reportage, which is given a new rhythm through an initially almost enchanted perspective on landscapes shaped by nature—where snow, ice, and blue skies evoke primal elements—and on the people, their stories, and their families living in a symbiotic relationship with nature, with fishing serving as a metaphor.”
