A portrait of Ara Shamim featured in the “Thousand People of Genoa” gallery being brought overseas as a result of City Council member Priscilla Tyson’s collaboration with Greater Columbus Sister Cities International. Credit: Courtesy of Emanuele Timothy Costa
Genoa, Italy, Columbus’ oldest sister city, will be visiting central Ohio on Sunday through the many faces captured by Italian photographer Emanuele Timothy Costa.
Costa’s exhibition “Thousand People of Genoa” is being brought overseas as a result of Columbus City Council member Priscilla Tyson’s collaboration with Greater Columbus Sister Cities International. While leading a young professionals trip to Italy for the organization in 2015, Tyson connected with the Genoan photographer.
“We got our portraits taken. We got to know him,” said Tim Sword, president of GCSCI. “We fell in love with both his exhibit and him, and his people. All of us immediately thought, ‘Oh it’d be great to get him in Columbus,”
“Thousand People of Genoa” features portraits of 1,000 Genoans captured in everyday life. Sword said one of Costa’s great skills is his ability to convince anyone to sit for a picture, adding that his work does a great job of highlighting the diversity of Italian people.
“This is a community. All these of people, whether they are young, old, male, female … it’s kind of a sign of our times,” Sword said. “There’s just something about how he captures these people, you feel like you’re really looking at them.”
The exhibit will be split among five different locations across central Ohio, allowing for more people to experience Costa’s work. Council member Tyson said she hopes “Thousand People of Genoa” will celebrate the 62-year-long relationship between the two cities.
“It’s important for … Columbus residents to, one, realize that we have a sister-city relationship with [Genoa] and why that’s an important one,” Tyson said. “And two, I think it’s important to see the many faces of the individuals that live in Genoa.”
A portrait of Luciano Ragno featured in the “Thousand People of Genoa” gallery being brought overseas as a result of City Council member Priscilla Tyson’s collaboration with Greater Columbus Sister Cities International. Credit: Courtesy of Emanuele Timothy Costa
While in the city, Costa also will be working on “Thousand People of Columbus” as part of the sister cities’ collaboration, setting up various photo sites during his stay from March 25 to April 9. His pictures of Columbus faces will be displayed in Genoa in 2019.
“I’m excited about ‘Thousand People of Columbus’ because I want Italy, especially Genoa, to have a better understanding of our relationship,” Tyson said. “But also, to see the diversity of individuals in Columbus … I love Columbus and I want others around the world to see the beauty of the people.”
“Thousand People of Genoa” will be on display from Monday to April 9 at the following locations: Greater Columbus Convention Center, John Glenn Columbus International Airport, the Columbus Museum Of Art, Franklin Park Conservatory and the Cultural Arts Center.
“Thousand People of Columbus” photo sessions include John Glenn Columbus International Airport on March 27 and the Columbus Museum of Art on April 5. More locations and dates for photographing are still to be determined.
