In Salerno, the immersive exhibition “Impressions – Photographic Tales”: art and legality aboard the MareNostrum Dike

SALERNO – June 4, 2025. A unique event, suspended between memory, art, and civic engagement, took place today at Circolo Canottieri Irno In Salerno: the Salerno stop of the immersive exhibition “Impressions – Photographic Tales”, promoted by the’Lello Montone Association within the framework of the national initiative “For a sea of legality”.

The symbolic protagonist of the meeting was the motored yacht MareNostrum Dike, a vessel seized from smugglers and which has today become an emblem of redemption and rebirth. Used in the past for illegal transport from Turkey to Sicily, the boat – certified for 12 people but overloaded with over one hundred migrants – was confiscated by the judiciary and today sails with a new mission: to spread culture and awareness.

After touching down in Palermo, Messina, and Vibo Valentia, the MareNostrum Dike has docked in Salerno, where 150 local schoolchildren were able to visit it and participate in the exhibition set up inside the nautical club. The images on display, taken by the late Professor Lello Montone with analog underwater techniques, they immerse the visitor in a poetic, submerged world, evoking deep reflections on memory and transformation.

What makes the experience even more immersive is the sound contribution from Maria Chiara Delli Santi, in art Full moon, with their musical project “Underwater”: dreamlike and suspended soundscapes, composed of vocals, synthetic and natural sounds, which accompany the observer on a meditative, almost fairy-tale journey.

«Every shot tells a story, an emotion. Photography becomes a means of storytelling, reflection, and engagement for new generations.»says Enza Montone, President of the association and curator of the exhibition.

During the morning, from 10 AM to 12:30 PM, there was also the Conference “The Sailboat Dike: A Symbol of Legality and Social Redemption”, with the participation of civil authorities and law enforcement agencies daily engaged in the fight for legality.

With this initiative, Salerno becomes a symbolic port for one day, carrying a strong and clear message: art can be a tool for education and civic engagement, and the sea – once a theater of tragedies – can once again become a space for dreams, beauty, and justice.