It all starts in a kitchen, a table, and an ancient gesture: the little wheel that cuts into ravioli dough. Yet that simple, intimate shot, taken by Enrica Puddu, is circulating across Europe like a small ambassador of Sardinian tradition.
Photography, which has become a symbol of family memory and everyday beauty, after conquering Koper, Athens and Fier in Albania, will also land in Rijeka, Croatia, from November 22 to December 5, 2025.
The image, titled "The Wheel," is part of the international exhibition "Shades of Dolce Vita," a traveling project that combines photography and painting to narrate Italian identity through emotions, gestures, rituals, and fragments of life.
The Rijeka stage, hosted at the headquarters of the Italian Community (Uljarska 1/II), strengthens the cultural bond between Italy and Croatia and is promoted by “Le Vie delle Foto” together with the CI of Rijeka and the Atelier '53 Amèbe.
The exhibition intertwines tradition, modernity, and memory: from village kitchens to Mediterranean landscapes, each work offers an authentic glimpse into everyday life. A shared narrative that, after Slovenia, Greece, and Albania, now finds a new home on the shores of Kvarner. A comprehensive catalog with critical essays and photographic materials will also be published for the occasion.
Born in Cagliari in the late 1980s, now a teacher in Quartu Sant'Elena, Enrica Puddu has been exposed to art since she was a child thanks to her painter father .
He loves sunrises and sunsets, fleeting moments that speak the language of light. But for this exhibition he chose a return to his origins: San Nicolò Gerrei, his mother's hometown, and the ricotta and spinach ravioli his grandmother made .
"It was a magical ritual," she says, "a moment when the women of my family gathered around the table, kneading dough and sharing affection with precious simplicity."
His shot is a tribute to that memory that passes from hand to hand like a silent legacy . "I dedicate it to my mother, my grandmother, and all the women in my family. It's the most beautiful way I know to say thank you," Puddu confides.
