A photo exhibition portraying Italian immigration in Wallonia opened on Friday evening at the University of Charleroi campus.
The 'Italians of Wallonia' exhibition is a collaboration between the University of Mons (UMons) and the Charleroi Photography Museum. It features a curated selection of photographs of Italian workers and their families who moved to Wallonia following a 1946 agreement between Belgium and Italy.
The photographs were selected from the “Archives of Wallonia” collection, owned by the non-profit association of the same name and preserved at the Charleroi Photography Museum.
Teams from the museum and the Italian Cultural Institute collaborated in the final selection process, going through thousands of images from the archives.
The selected images depict various stages of Italian immigration, including the arrival of workers in the 1950s, their employment in factories, integration into Belgian society and involvement in social battles. Some photos provide an intimate glimpse into their lives set against the backdrop of Wallonia.
The exhibition is open for viewing at the Gramme building on the Charleroi campus until 30 June.
