Donna Moderna, the weekly edited by Patrizia Avoledo and Cipriana Dall’Orto, and Mediafriends, the charity set up by Mediaset, Mondadori and Medusa, have combined their forces in a project aimed at providing support fro children who are the victims of abuse and maltreatment.

The initiative will be launched during the Pitti Bimbo, in Florence from 20 to 22 January 2011, with a photographic installation by Enrico Bossan entitled Bambini rompiscatole. Bambini nelle foto. Foto nelle scatole (Pain in the neck kids. Kids in photos. Photos in boxes), which will be open on 21 and 22 January form 10 am to 5 pm at the Magazzini Teatro della Fortezza da Basso (admission free). The opening is scheduled for tomorrow, Thursday 20 January, with an invitation-only event.

This project by Donna Moderna, a women’s weekly that has always been engaged in social issues, and Mediafriends will continue during the whole of 2011 and will also involve readers of the magazine with a fund raising effort organised in a range of initiatives.

The exhibition Bambini rompiscatole. Bambini nelle foto. Foto nelle scatole is a reportage featuring 10 photographs by Enrico Bossan that, from the viewpoint of the young guests, give an account of the atmosphere and life of the family home. Each photograph is mounted inside a large cardboard box that symbolises the box in which the dreams, thoughts and desires of children are contained.

Donna Moderna and Mediafriends invite visitors to open the boxes and, as well as discovering the photos, to read the thoughts that important writers have dedicated to these unfortunate kids. The authors: Giorgio Fontana, Fabio Geda, Pietro Grossi, Paolo Giordano, Carlo Lucarelli, Paola Mastrocola, Marco Missiroli, Michela Murgia, Valeria Parrella and Roberto Saviano as well as Dario Fo, who has donated a watercolour done by him.

During the inauguration event the actress Gaia De Laurenti will read some extracts.

The proceeds of the Donna Moderna and Mediafriends project will be devolved to five communities run by the associations CAF and Focolare Maria Regina Onlus in Teramo. Four separate areas for the collection of funds have been identified: healthcare, hospitality, education, leisure.

The companies at Pitti Bimbo will be asked by Donna Moderna and Mediafriends to support the initiative by buying one of the installations. Visitors to the exhibition can contribute by buying posters of the photos as well as by visiting the web sites www.donnamoderna.com and www.mediafriends.it, where they can support the project by making a donation to CAF (www.cafonlus.org) and Focolare Maria Regina Onlus (www.ibambini.it).

Donna Moderna will be present during the entire period of Pitti Bimbo in the exhibition area with a comfort-corner in the Mondadori Appointment space, which is in the heart of the Fortezza da Basso, in the middle of Piazzale delle Ghiaie.