Extracts from “Pray for Seamen” and “Hotspot Mediterraneo”
“Hotspot Mediterraneo” (2025)
“Hotspot Mediterraneo” stems from the urgent need to shed light on the profound and rapid changes affecting the Mediterranean, the sea in the middle that for millennia has been a crossroads of cultures, trade, traditions, and human lives. As rich in history as it is fragile from an environmental perspective, it now faces unprecedented challenges: from climate warming to pollution, from biodiversity loss to the intensification of human activities, along with geopolitical conflicts and social crises impacting the coastal communities of Europe, North Africa, and the Near East.
The photography series aims to narrate, through an immersive and multimedia approach, the many facets of these transformations, drawing attention to the processes that are endangering the ecological and social balance of the entire Mediterranean basin. A journey across the Mediterranean space, between sea and coast, in Europe, North Africa, and the Near East, in search of a shared sense of belonging that has faded in the collective imagination, and of the similarities that exist among the problems and the solutions being implemented in different places.
“Pray for Seamen” (2022)
The project unfolds across Trapani, Bellina’s hometown in Sicily, the Kerkennah Islands in Tunisia, and Accra in Ghana, locations that were once flourishing hubs of artisanal fishing but are now pressured by globalisation, exploitation, and the accelerating effects of global warming. Drawing on his family's background as fishermen, Bellina reveals how socioeconomic conditions have shifted over the years. The series reflects on the industry's transformation and its ecological and social repercussions. From Sicily to Kerkennah to Jamestown Harbour in Accra, the work brings together places separated by distance, yet united by the same crisis: the erosion of fishing as a sustainable livelihood for local communities.
Francesco Bellina (IT)
Francesco Bellina (Trapani, 1989) is a photographer based in Palermo and Accra. His artistic work focuses mainly on contemporary socio-political issues with a particular focus on the topics of migration and climate issues.
He also frequently collaborates with African, American and European universities and institutions offering lectures on photography, geopolitics and colonialism.
His works have been published on major international media.
In 2020 he finished the long-term project "Oriri" (2016–2020), that follows the interlace of sex trafficking and voodoo rituals in Benin, Niger, Ghana, Nigeria and Sicily. The project was exhibited in Palermo in 2021 and the book came out at the end of 2022.
In 2021 his project “Pray for Seamen”, curated by Izabela Anna Moren, won the 10th Edition of the Italian Council fund, promoted by the Italian Minister of Culture.
In 2023, his exhibition “Oriri” was exhibited at the European Parliament in Brussels.
In 2023, his second book, ‘Pray for Seamen’, was published and the project exhibited in Palermo at Ecomuseo Mare Memoria Viva.
In 2024, the two books, “Oriri” and “Pray for Seamen” gained further recognition by being acquired by the permanent collection of SFMOMA (San Francisco Museum of Modern Art).
In October 2024, he participated in the 16th Symposium held at Warsaw University, in collaboration with Loyola University Chicago and JFRM in Rome, on the topic of migration and human rights. In the same month, he was invited to Northeastern University in Boston to share his work on ‘Oriri’ and other stories of migration from Africa.
In January 2025, his exhibition ‘About Africa’ was shown in Trapani at the Museum of Contemporary Art ‘San Rocco’.
In May 2025 his exhibition “Oriri” was exhibited at the Palace of Justice in Naples. In 2025, he was selected among the artists of Agrigento Italian Culture Capital. as part of the “Mirror” project, curated by Basak Senova and Jonatan Habib Engqvist.
