“This is the story of my homecoming. A forced confrontation with the ghosts and the fears from the past, with those places I’ve never fully understood. A mosaic of memories, dreams, thoughts, and loved ones transformed through the lens of imagination – my desperate, beautiful escape.

I grew up in a small town in northern Italy. A place where time seemed to stand still. I used to call it “nowhereland”: an unknown place unworthy of any interest. I left home when I was 18, leaving everything – and everyone – behind. But the pandemic changed my plans, forcing me to go back to my hometown after many years. Maybe it was time to deal with the past.

I decided to spend my free time wandering through the countryside, the alleys, the old farms, and the waterways, exploring faces and places I couldn’t remember anymore. I tried to discover the beauty I couldn’t see when I was younger and angry, and blind. Searching for my own roots, for the first time in my whole life.

But is there still a place for us, once we return?

These are the memories I tried to forget for a long time. I am now aware that, somewhere, there was beauty and there was life, and I was there. I was just too young and stubborn to see them.”

Artist’s bio

Andrea Agostini is a documentary photographer and storyteller. He has always been fascinated by the concept of Elsewhere. His works explores the themes of hospitality, environment, the discovery of the territory and one’s own origins.