Viaggio fotografico nelle missioni di Cute Project
Camera – Centro Italiano per la Fotografia
Of Skin and Light A photographic journey through Cute Project missions CAMERA – Italian Center for PhotographyVia delle Rosine 18 – Turin October 28, 2025, 6:00 PM
On Tuesday, October 28, Cute Project Onlus presents Of Skin and Light, an event dedicated to the dialogue between art, medicine, and international cooperation. It brings together the voices of volunteers — doctors and nurses — and the artists who have accompanied the association’s missions in Africa for years.
Founded in Turin in 2012, Cute Project Onlus carries out humanitarian projects in Uganda, Benin, and Congo, with the goal of training local healthcare personnel — both theoretically and practically — in reconstructive plastic surgery. The association operates on a voluntary basis through missions that combine complex surgical procedures, educational activities, and prevention campaigns focused on childhood burns.
Over more than twelve years of activity, Cute Project has trained dozens of local healthcare workers and treated over 1,300 patients, most of them children. Burns — caused by domestic accidents, fires, or assaults — are among the leading causes of disability in African countries. Through surgery and training, Cute restores patients’ ability to live independently and with dignity, while empowering local medical staff to continue care autonomously.
In November 2025, the Cute Project team will embark on a new mission to Benin, at the Saint Padre Pio Hospital in N’Dali, in the northern part of the country.
Of Skin and Light is born from the images and stories collected during these missions, aiming to convey — through the artists’ sensitivity — the human and symbolic power of healing. The artists hosted by Cute each year become witnesses and storytellers of an experience that blends aesthetic vision, responsibility, and solidarity.
Speakers at the event include:
- Silvia Berutti, surgeon, nephrology specialist, and lead physician for Cute Project missions in Uganda
- Monica Carocci, photographer and visual artist, sharing her field documentation experience
- Olga Gambari, art critic and curator of the project
- Angelo Pittro, director of Lonely Planet Italy, offering insights into the human geographies of solidarity and responsible travel
There will also be a conversation with the photographers attending the event: Monica Carocci, Thorsten Stobbe, Claudio Cravero, Carlo Orsi, and Gigi Piana.
On October 28, a selection of works by Monica Carocci, Thorsten Stobbe, Claudio Cravero, Carlo Orsi, and Gigi Piana will be exhibited — created during and after the missions. A visual and narrative journey that, like surgery, illuminates what life gives back after the wound.
An opportunity to reflect — through words and images — on the deeper meaning of care: for bodies, places, and relationships.
CAMERA
CAMERA’s mission to promote photography is aimed at a broad and diverse audience in terms of type, age, and geographic reach. Through a rich offering — from exhibitions to workshops, talks, and labs — CAMERA aspires to become an increasingly vital hub, a place of encounter and exchange for citizens, with cultural programming tailored to every audience: enthusiasts, amateurs, professionals, and scholars.
CAMERA is a platform for exhibition, production, archiving, education, dialogue, and debate around photography — a space rooted in the local territory and international at the same time. https://camera.to
Biographies
Silvia Berutti Surgeon and nephrology specialist, she serves as the lead physician for Cute Project Onlus missions in Uganda. She oversees the clinical management of patients before and after reconstructive plastic surgery, supporting the surgical and nursing teams in daily activities on the ward and in the operating room. She has long contributed to the missions, helping train local staff and ensure continuity of care.
Monica Carocci Photographer and visual artist, born in Rome in 1966, she lives and works in Turin. Her work explores the relationship between body, identity, and time through a poetic and rigorous photographic language. Her pieces have been exhibited in Italian and international institutions and galleries, including the National Gallery of Modern and Contemporary Art in Rome, the Donata Pizzi Collection, Artissima, and Francesca Antonini Gallery. In 2024, she joined a humanitarian mission in Uganda with Cute Project Onlus, documenting the lives and rebirths of patients through skin and light.
Olga Gambari Art critic, journalist, and independent curator. She collaborates with la Repubblica and Il Giornale dell’Arte, and has served as artistic director of The Others Art Fair and Nesxt – Independent Art Festival. She has curated numerous multidisciplinary projects and teaches at IED in Turin. In 2023, she published the novel Il nome segreto(Miraggi Edizioni), which was among the recommendations for the 2024 Strega Prize.
Angelo Pittro Director of Lonely Planet Italy. For over twenty-five years, he has worked on editorial strategies and brand innovation in the travel world. Passionate about storytelling and human geographies, he brings his experience to the dialogue between travel, solidarity, and territorial knowledge.
Cute Project Press Office Raffaella Ronchetta – M. +39 334 8822817
