5:30-7:00 pm
Giorgio Cini Foundation

The Centre for Comparative Studies of Civilisations and Spiritualities of Fondazione Giorgio Cini and the Magnum co-organise a public lecture with Sabiha Çimen, self-taught Turkish photographer focusing on women, Islamic culture, portraiture and still life.
In her work Hafiz: the Guardians of the Qur’an, Sabiha Çimen documented Muslim girlhood in Turkey.
She portrays them in the context of Qur’anic schools where, as a 12-years old girl, she was a student herself together with her twin sister.
The Qur’anic schools are single-gender residential schools, which range in size from 50 to 600 students; the intensive training, for children and teenagers between 8 and 17 years old, lasts between 3 and 4 years. In this work, Sabiha explores teenagers’ everyday life, intimacy, piety, but also rebellion and quirkiness.

The visual anthropologist Valentina Bonifacio (Ca’ Foscari University of Venice) and the anthropologist of Islam Fabio Vicini (University of Verona) will join Sabiha Çimen in discussing contemporary Islam in Turkey and the use of images.