Members of the British School at Rome are invited to an exhibition at the British Academy on June 28th featuring photographs from the BSR archive documenting the Abruzzo region of Italy from 1901-1923. The exhibition highlights photographs taken by Thomas Ashby, the first student and third director of the BSR, during his visits to Abruzzo. His photos document archaeological sites, festivals, and daily life, providing historical context for the region that was devastated by an earthquake in 2009. The exhibition has toured Abruzzo since 2011 and received significant press coverage.

1. BSR Members and Friends are warmly invited to
Past, Present and Future in Abruzzo
Photographic exhibition
in collaboration with Ad.Venture
with contributions by
Christopher Smith, Valerie Scott
Andrew Hopkins & Ed Bispham
Thursday, 28th June 2012 at 6.00 p.m.
at the British Academy, 10–11 Carlton House Terrace,
London, SW1Y 5AH
Members are requested to RSVP in case of acceptance,
to development@bsrome.it or 020 7969 5247

2. On 31 May 2011, The British School at Rome launched the Ashby e l’Abruzzo exhibition. This project
attracted national attention, not only due to the BSR’s reputation in Italy, but perhaps more poignantly,
because of the tragic 2009 earthquake that devastated l’Aquila, capital of the Abruzzo region.
The exhibition of new digital prints opened in L’Aquila on 11 June 2011 and is touring Abruzzo until the end
September 2012, returning to its permanent home in L’Aquila - a gift from the BSR to the city. The amount
of national press coverage during the tour was unexpected and unprecedented, and over 25,000 visited
the exhibition.
The catalogue, edited by Vienna Tordone, Thomas Ashby: Viaggi in Abruzzo /Travels in Abruzzo 1901/1923,
is published by SilvanaEditoriale.
The BSR Photographic Archive includes the collection of over 8,000 photographs taken by Thomas Ashby,
the first student and third Director of the BSR. These include images taken on his six visits to the Abruzzo
region between 1901 and 1923, documenting not only archaeological sites, but also many festivals and
processions in villages throughout Abruzzo. The remarkable photographs taken in markets and piazzas
poignantly illustrate the early 20th Century rural Italians’ reaction to the rather oddly-dressed English
photographer - it was perhaps the first camera they had ever seen.
This remarkable project, in collaboration with Ad.Venture srl and entirely funded by Italian institutions and
companies, is a striking example of the collaboration between the BSR and the Italian community. It also
vividly and poignantly demonstrates the importance of viewing the contemporary through the lens of
history – Thomas Ashby’s collection documents for eternity a region and a reality that is forever lost.
See www.bsr.ac.uk/news/london/ashby-and-the-abruzzo for more information.