The southern Italian town of Matera is one of the oldest crossroads in the Mediterranean. Continually occupied since the Neolithic Age, it originated as warren of cave dwellings known as the Sassi (Italian for “stones”) carved deep into a ravine. In the 1940s, the town came to international attention as the nadir of southern Italian backwardness, following the publication of northern Italian author and artist Carlo Levi's best-selling memoir, Christ Stopped at Eboli. Today, just over a generation later, Matera has resurged as a model of Mediterranean heritage that will represent Europe as its Capital of Culture in 2019. How photography framed Matera's transformation, both in its urban development and in the popular imagination, is the subject of this talk.

Lindsay Harris is the Andrew W. Mellon Professor in Charge of the School of Classical Studies at the American Academy in Rome.

The talk will be held in English. You can watch this event live at https://livestream.com/aarome.