DRD4-7r - Further Future. Energy for Life
Children from Maisonnette and young photographers from ISFCI explore together EXPO 2015 topics
 
at the presence of Roberto Farnè, professor of Didactics and Special Pedagogy at University of Bologna and Marcella Terrusi, professor of History of Picture Book at ISIA of Urbino.
 
A variant of gene DRD4, that characteristically controls dopamine, a neurotransmitter linked to the mechanisms of learning and reward, has been recently named explorer's gene. This variant - called DRD4-7R - has been associated to curiosity and restlessness, two features of the typically adventurous disposition of researchers.
 
The title we have chosen for this exhibition combines this supposed gene for exploration to the natural inclination of children to explore and experiment. According to Alison Gopnik, psychologist of child development at Berkeley, the long childhood of humanity - compared to that of other primates - grants a clear evolutionary and developmental advantage: a period of safe playing within which humans can train to explore.
 
Invited to elaborate on some statements from EXPO 2015 claim, children from "La Maisonnette" nursery schools, in Rome have answered the question "What gives energy to life?" pinpointing and selecting their natural rights: affective relationships, home, movement, places and objects that generate energy, strength and comfort. During this playful exploration, in each school they were together with two young photographers from ISFCI (Higher Institute of Photography and Integrated Communication), who have collected by their shots the main phases of the project.
 
"The pictures shown in the exhibition tell the vital energy we meet every morning in our children. That energy portrays a diverse humankind, variably pugnacious, concentrated, listening, slightly absent, annoyed, open, ironic and amused, and nonetheless never touched by a hint of surrender, not even a shadow" writes Monica Valenziano, project manager, in the text that presents the exhibit.
 
Photos by Melissa Pallini and Vincenzo Metodo (scuola di via Treviso), Matteo Pantalone and Diletta Bisetto (scuola di via Tripolitania), Martina Zanin and Serena Vittorini (scuola di via A. Rolla/Infernetto), Eliana Bambino and Roberta Santelli (scuola di via dell'Umanesimo), Simona Scalas and Cecilia Mastropasqua (scuola di viale Liegi), Carmen Crespina and Mauricio Ugolini (scuola di via Monte Oppio), Alessandro Treves and Valentin Morariu (scuola di via degli Olmetti/Formello).