THE LIVING SEA

Underwater photography by Hussain Aga Khan
Videography by Simone Piccoli

9 June – 9 October 2022
Venice, Natural History Museum of Venice Giancarlo Ligabue

The Living Sea presents the view of two friends, Hussain Aga Khan and Simone Piccoli, on the extraordinary diversity of the underwater world of three countries: Tonga, Mexico and Egypt.

Both born in 1974, Hussain Aga Khan, a photographer and author of books and exhibitions, and Simone Piccoli, director of underwater documentaries, met in November 2014 on a dolphin expedition Simone was guiding in Sataya, Red Sea, where gigantic groups of spinner dolphins cruise and near where the strange and peaceful dugong can be seen grazing.

In subsequent years, they set their sights on Vava’u, one of the two main islands in Tonga, whose deep waters whales come to give birth in every summer, and the Revillagigedo islands far off the coast of Mexico, where megafauna like oceanic manta rays and scalloped hammerheads flourish, as do gigantic whale sharks, the biggest fish in the sea that eat only plankton.

To guide us through these three fascinating, diverse places, Hussain Aga Khan’s large format prints, accompanied by the author’s comments, dialogue with Simone Piccoli’s award-winning films, shot during their joint expeditions.

For this exhibition, the environmental association Marevivo Onlus and Marevivo Veneto ETS have partnered with Focused on Nature, the Swiss association created by Hussain Aga Khan to promote, through the power of photography, awareness of environmental causes and to finance some of the best wildlife charities in the world for particular species and ecosystems of interest.

Visit the exhibition with the virtual tour created by Simone Piccoli 3S Production