PAC

curated by Sabato De Sarno

Eravamo notte, ora siamo giorno is an open, ever-expanding collection of photographic portraits and intimate footage gathered over more than a decade between Milan and Naples.

The images in the exhibition are neither stolen moments nor detached documentation; they are insider testaments, shared choices, and visions nurtured within a deep emotional and political network. The series captures the faces, bodies, and gestures of individuals who, like the artist, have experienced the night as a space for identity, transformation, and sisterhood. These are not merely performers, but friends, lovers, and sisters—intimate presences who inhabit the frame with the confidence and vulnerability of those who feel safe.

The photographs and videos—often shot in everyday, non-performative settings, amid dinners, getting ready, dressing rooms, quiet waits, and confessions—evoke the political vitality and tender sensitivity of a community showing itself as it truly is, rather than how it appears. The result is a layered visual narrative of passing time: faces change, relationships evolve, and subjectivities transform, yet the desire to exist, to be seen, and to be portrayed with care remains untouched.

The exhibition is promoted by the Municipality of Milan - Culture and produced by PAC and Wunderplace Studio in collaboration with Orgoglio Porta Venezia Milano, a cultural and symbolic hub that champions a neighborhood inclusive by nature. Eravamo notte, ora siamo giorno is realized with the support of Levi’s®.

With this exhibition, PAC participates in Milano Pride 2026, joining the rich calendar of cultural events taking over the city during Pride Month.

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Ambrosia Fortuna (Naples, 1993) is a visual artist and photographer  whose work stems from a direct, lived experience within marginalized performance contexts and communities, above all those linked  to the Italian queer and trans scene. Raised in a small town near  Naples, she later moved to Milan, a city that marked a pivotal  moment in her artistic and personal development. Over the years,  her career has developed between Milan, Naples, and Rome,  across diverse urban and cultural contexts that have helped define her gaze.  Her practice has been organically created, drawing on diverse  experiences including performance, drag culture, and visual research, shaping an intimate and layered language. Her images are not limited to documentation, but are also acts of relationship: portraits emerging from real connections, conversations, and an emotional proximity to the photographed subjects. Ambrosia Fortuna’s oeuvre focuses on themes such as identity, transformation, the body, and belonging, creating authentic narratives that transcend stereotypical representations. Through a practice uniting aesthetics and experience, she builds personal and collective visual archives, in which photography becomes a tool of memory, affirmation, and healing. The works presented reflect this approach: not simple images, but testimonies of shared experiences, rooted in a profound knowledge of the represented contexts.