NOLA MINOLFI:
The Man Who Never Saw the Sea

Chamois, Italy
20th July - 31st August 2018

Curated by Aaron Schuman

In 2018, Aaron Schuman was invited to curate Nola Minolfi's open-air exhibition, The Man Who Never Saw the Sea, in the village of Chamois, deep within the Italian Alps.


The Man Who Never Saw the Sea
Text by Nola Minolfi

Emilio kept telling me, "I don't know what I'm still doing here."

He's 86-years-old and has lived his entire life in the house where he was born. He has never seen the sea.

The village of Chamois has 90 inhabitants. The houses are spread across a mountain in the Italian Alps, 1,800 meters above sea level. It is the highest municipality in Italy where cars are not allowed. The only way to get there is by foot, or by cable car.

To find Emilio, I took a snowy path from Chamois, crossed a bridge over the nearby river, and walked through fields and the forest. Although Emilio has been photographed and interviewed several times throughout his life, he welcomes me with great surprise, and invites me to sit next to him on his sofa.

With him is Dina, his in-home nurse. Emilio introduces her, telling me that she had to travel several kilometres to live with him, even though he doesn't know exactly how far Romania is from Italy. He was sure that Dina wouldn't last more than a few days, but now is been almost a year, and the two of them laugh their heads off. "C'mon Dina, don't make me laugh like that!"

Emilio also tells me that, nowadays he's the only inhabitant of his little hamlet who lives here all year long. He's very proud to show me his last two teeth, recounting his aches and pains. "I don't know what I'm still doing here."

"What have you done up here, Emilio?"

"I've spent all of my life working", he explains. "I never had a single day off. I grew oats, barley, rye, and also had cows, which gave me very good milk. I was able to make cheese all year long."

Today in Chamois there are several family-run vegetable gardens where people grows mostly potatoes and cabbages. Farming is also a primary resource in the region. In Chamois there's Dino, a farmer who spends his summers on the high-altitude fields with his cows.

"I used to play accordion and harmonica, just by ear, you know", Emilio says. Then he stops and adds, "I wanted to become a musician but my parents didn't like it at all."

"Emilio, do you have a girlfriend?"
"No, I haven't got anyone", he replies, blushing.
"My mother wouldn't allow me to have one. She held me tight."

Emilio laughs a lot. He's pure and genuine. He struggles to walk. But he always hopes to live to the next spring – in order to see his meadows in bloom, just like they look in his old photographs.