The curator of photography, Lara Štrumej, MA speaks about Lojze Spacal’s photographs In Exile. (At the Fountain, 1932; Tinker, 1932; Two Boys, 1931-32; May Pole, 1931)

When borders between countries become impassable and other countries out of reach, photographs taken in foreign places may trigger reflection that differs from that before such events like the current cataclysm. The reason is because photographs contain not only meanings deriving from their origin, but also meanings we invest in them with our experiences and knowledge. In 1930, because of his antifascist activities, Lojze Spacal was exiled to the small town of Accettura in the southern Italian region of Basilicata. Having to support himself in exile, the young artistically inclined man thought of his camera. He asked his family to send him his old Leica and set to work as a professional photographer. With a keen sense for the locals’ needs and desires he photographed family festivities, weddings, first communions, and also funerals, took many portrait photographs and recorded the specially interesting street scenes and events at festivals and other public celebrations, pictures whose documentary value and charm only grow over time. By twenty-four, Spacal had turned photographing into a lucrative business, but then, due to the fact he was a political exile, had to cede his place to a local photographer. Subsequently, he found work in a carpenter’s shop, painting coffins to general admiration. This work made him realize his vocation for painting, and he spent the rest of his exile preparing for graduation from the art lyceum in Venice.