Mimmo Jodice to receive honorary degree in architecture

An honorary degree to a Neapolitan of excellence. Mimmo Jodice, one of the great names in Italian photography, will receive on Thursday, Nov. 16, an honorary degree in Architecture conferred on him by the Athenaeum.

An award that "adds a further prestigious piece to the career of one of the most interesting artistic personalities in the national and international cultural reality. Mimmo Jodice in fact represents one of the great names in Italian photography, his artistic contribution translates different realities into images, bringing to light unprecedented representations of the urban landscape. The landscape is in fact a great protagonist of his work, in the book Vedute di Napoli, città dove vive e lavora, published in 1980, he contributes to providing a new vision of the urban fabric and its architecture. Always attentive to the experimentation and possibilities of photographic language, he has enabled the emergence of Italian photography on the international scene."

Mimmo Jodice's artistic journey starts in Naples and is centered on Naples. Born in 1934 in Sanità, Jodice took his first steps at the Academy of Fine Arts in Via Costantinopoli. After his first experiments, his attention immediately turned to the reality of Naples in its social, historical and landscape aspects. His photographs are a socio-anthropological investigation of popular culture, rituals, and people's daily lives. Numerous are his works on festivals, religious rituals of the south, the problems of mental illness and social marginalization.

A degree, then, in honor of Jodice's long and important career. A recognition that is in addition to other numerous awards such as the Feltrinelli Prize awarded to him by the Accademia dei Lincei in 2003.
The graduation ceremony will begin at 11 a.m. at theUniversity's Aula Magna Storica on Corso Umberto I, with introductory remarks by Rector Guido Trombetti and Dean of the Faculty of Architecture Benedetto Gravagnuolo.

It will be Professor Cesare De Seta, lecturer in the Faculty of Architecture, who will explain the reasons that led the University of Frederick to confer an honorary degree on the Neapolitan photographer in the academic laudatio. The floor will then pass to Jodice himself who will give his Lectio Magistralis following which he will receive the award.

The day does not end there, however. After the ceremony at the Athenaeum, Jodice will present, at the National Library at 5 p.m., his book Città Visibili published by Charta edizioni, and then move on to the Doric Hall of the Royal Palace where at 6 p.m:30 the photographer will inaugurate the exhibition of the same title, which until Nov. 26 will display 50 black-and-white photographs, taken in the 20-year period from 1986 to 2006, in which Jodice reads intersecting eight cities: Rome, Paris, Boston, Moscow, Sao Paulo, Tokyo, New York and, of course, Naples. (a.m.)