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News PUERTO PRINCESA UNDERGROUND RIVER DAY
On 11 November, 2019, across the Philippines, the “PPUR - Puerto Princesa Underground River Day” was celebrated as part of the Festival of Biodiversity. Today, marking the end of the event, we presented the book on the PPUR, published by Skira editore and en-
titled “A Cave Between Land and Sea”, to the authorities, represented by the Mayor of Puerto Princesa, the Governor of the island of Palawan and the Chair of the Tourism Committee of the National Senate.
GIORGIO FANTAZZINI: 2020 MEMORIES OF THE EARTH
This is the first time that La Venta has published a book by a non-member, even though, in truth, he was a one-time speleologist and, moreover, in writing the book he availed himself of the input of an honorary member of our association, Paolo Forti.
This, however, would not be a sufficient reason to justify the decision to become his publisher; that decision was based on the fact that the subject matter (a private collection of African art), while at first glance apparently rather distant from our main area of interest, on closer inspection reveals itself to fit in perfectly with our concept of geographical exploration, which must include, perhaps first and foremost, social contact and cultural exchange with the populations who live in the areas that we travel through. In this book, which is far more than a run-of-the-mill photo book, we can pick up on the empathetic relationships that the author has succeeded in establishing in his 50+ years of adventure travel, geared towards developing an understanding of the main African ethics groups. The scans of 200+ images of everyday objects – which often, however, due to the dedication and flair with which they have been made can be considered bona fide artistic masterpieces – alternate with short accounts of unusual or entirely unexpected events that occurred during his peregrinations on African soil. These tales, some written by Fantazzini and others by friends of his who share his love for exploring that continent, offer veritable “windows” on some of the aspects of African tribal culture, which is so complex and so different from our own, but in no way less rich...indeed, quite the opposite!
