14 December 2021

Banca Generali: Gender Equality at the centre of BG4SDGs - Time to Change

24 June 2018 was a historic date. On that day, Saudi Arabia lifted the ban that prevented women from obtaining a driving licence and being independent when travelling by car or motorbike.

Before then, Saudi Arabia was the last country in the world not to recognise this right for women, who had to rely on their husbands, brothers or drivers to make even the most basic journeys.

This historical change is the starting point for the story of the third chapter of "BG4SDGs - Time To Change", Stefano Guindani's photographic project with Banca Generali to investigate the state of implementation of the 17 SDGs of the UN 2030 Agenda. The photographer's lens focuses on Sustainable Development Goal (SDG) number 5, which is dedicated to achieving gender equality and women's empowerment.

To tell the story, Stefano Guindani and Banca Generali travelled to the Arabian Peninsula and met an exceptional testimonial: Italian racing driver Francesca Pardini. After her experience in the world of racing, Pardini is now senior instructor at the Yas Marina Circuit in Abu Dhabi with a very special role: that of teaching driving to Saudi Arabian women. 

Guindani's shots for objective number 5 of "BG4SDGs - Time to Change" tell the story of three Saudi women's quest for equality and emancipation as they travel to Abu Dhabi to learn the secrets of driving from Francesca Pardini. The camera focuses on the Italian driver's daily life, a daily life in which she accompanies many young women towards a completely new experience, that of driving a car. Beautiful and fascinating vehicles that these women learn to know first from a theoretical point of view and then from a practical one, until the exciting experience that completes the course: a lap of the track in a real racing car along the curves of the Yas Marina Circuit in Abu Dhabi.

BG4SDGs - Time to Change: our sustainability project

Presented on 15 September 2021 in Milan, BG4SDGs - Time to Change will now continue for another 14 months to explore all 17 SDGs of the UN 2030 Agenda. For each of them, the key adopted by the photographer will be twofold: on the one hand, the aim is to highlight the negative action of mankind on the environment and the community, and on the other hand, how mankind itself has an extraordinary ability to recover through innovative and sustainable solutions. In his research, Guindani will go beyond the borders of Italy, looking for critical cases and situations of excellence abroad: Brazil, Norway and Australia, but also the United States and South Africa. He will be accompanied by an exceptional companion, Alberto Salza, one of the most internationally renowned anthropologists, who will edit the project texts and suggest some of the projects to be monitored.

SDG number 5 "Gender equality and women's empowerment" is the third goal presented in this series.