Entering the Zurab Tsereteli Museum of Modern Art in Tbilisi, the exhibition Poets, Masks, Actors, Ghosts unfolds less as a display and more as a constructed atmosphere.
Curated by Paola Lasalandra with creative direction by Irakli Nassidzé, the project forms part of KOLGA TBILISI PHOTO 2025. It presents the work of Mario Lasalandra as a continuous visual narrative shaped by tension between reality and imagination.
Across nearly 150 vintage prints, Lasalandra constructs an Italy that feels both intimate and theatrical. His images move beyond documentation. They function as staged moments where everyday life transforms into something symbolic, almost ritualistic. The visual language is rooted in black-and-white surrealism, yet it remains grounded in texture, space, and human presence.
His approach carries a strong cinematic sensibility. Influences from figures such as Federico Fellini and Michelangelo Antonioni can be traced in the way scenes are composed and characters are positioned within them. However, unlike film, Lasalandra’s work embraces stillness. Each frame holds its own narrative, suspended between movement and pause.
A key element of the exhibition is the project Il Magico, developed in the town of San Felice sul Panaro. Here, local residents temporarily step into fictional roles, embodying figures drawn from myth and collective memory. Through this process, the boundary between participant and performer dissolves. The ordinary becomes staged, yet remains authentic in its origin.
Masks appear throughout the series as a recurring motif. They do not simply conceal identity but expand it. Subjects adopt new layers of meaning, shifting between personal history and constructed presence. This treatment of identity reflects a broader exploration of transformation, where the self is fluid rather than fixed.
Despite its surreal qualities, the work remains closely tied to physical reality. Surfaces, textures, and environments retain their rawness. Cracked walls, worn streets, and rural landscapes anchor the imagery, allowing the surreal to emerge from the familiar rather than escape from it. This grounding gives the photographs a sense of weight and credibility.
The dialogue between Italian imagery and Georgian context adds another dimension. Displayed in Tbilisi, the work resonates with a city that similarly balances tradition and contemporary expression. The visual parallels are subtle but present, connecting two distinct cultural spaces through shared sensitivity to history and narrative.
In an era shaped by digital refinement, Lasalandra’s photography emphasizes materiality and imperfection. The images reveal their construction rather than conceal it, reinforcing the idea that meaning lies within process as much as result.
Poets, Masks, Actors, Ghosts ultimately presents photography as a space where memory, performance, and reality intersect. Through carefully constructed scenes and symbolic gestures, Lasalandra invites the viewer to reconsider the everyday as something layered, poetic, and open to reinterpretation.