Prato Textile District
for COVISIONI: / LUZ Photo Agency
The
textile district of Prato is the biggest cluster of Europe devoted to
the production of wool yarns and fabrics. More than 7.000 companies
are currently working in the district. The first activities in this
field date back to the Middle Ages, when the wool was recycled using
the waters of the river Bisenzio that flows through the city from the
Apennines. In the '90s the textile production of Prato went into
crisis, due to rising competition of industries based in several
emerging countries. Now, the uncertainty brought by the COVID-19
pandemic might be a new setback for the economy of the district and
we still do not know how many companies will survive these hard
times. One thing is, though, already taken for granted: this health
disaster will force all activities to adopt extraordinary and
expensive measures of social distancing and occupational safety.
COVISIONI: is a collective project ran by 40 photographers coming from all the 20 Italian regions that has the aim of documenting the changes the country is facing after the COVID-19 pandemic.
COVISIONI: is also a book, published in September 2021.
COVISIONI: is also a book, published in September 2021.
Filippo Bardazzi ©2024