September 2021 - Keep Calm and Drink Coffee

EVA SLEEPS

Sep 24, 2021 | BOOKS

Eva sleeps is what her mother replies to the postman in charge of delivering a package while we still don’t know anything about her.

Eva sleeps is a title that made me imagine something else.

Eva sleeps at the end of the book, but when I got to that point, I was moved because sleep represented a restitution.

And I was moved because there are bonds that can have the duration of a fragment but the indissoluble strength of something that nothing and no one can break.

This reading, once again from the series “Monica’s books” that I will never stop thanking, was a slow surprise, just like when something happens in life that you no longer expected.

And it is perhaps the things that did not happen that I appreciated, those that basically correspond to the truth exactly because of their absence.

Curiously I took another train trip this time from the far north of South Tyrol to the red and white lighthouse of Villa San Giovanni .

Looking from the window, images of the landscape and history alternate.

The history of Italy from 1919 to 1992.

The history of Italy seen from a very precise point of observation, high up, from the vertical earth.

But above all the history of that area that the most distracted, like me so far, call South Tyrol.

Francesca Melandri in her book published by Bompiani traces the events of the autonomous province of Bolzano, reconstructing a history that I had never considered in such detail.

Good and evil, souls and ideals, strategy and bad luck, intolerance and compassion are mixed within states, peoples, families, faces.

You should never forget to try to put yourself in the other’s shoes.

Ask yourself questions. All time.

Speaking of questions, there is one in particular that is constantly asked to Eva “Do you feel more Italian or more German?”

Her answer arrives right on the train, it is multifaceted and it could not be otherwise, considering all aspects.

Do you ever think about how much of you is the expression of your roots?

LET’S BREAK BOXES

Sep 22, 2021 | ENVIRONMENT

Separate waste collection has now given us wide awareness of the amount of plastic we consume weekly: something between the scary and the hallucinating.

A first obvious nonsense is the wild packaging.

Such as those packets of biscuits for which we then find ourselves having to throw away: external film, cardboard box, polylaminate wrapping, and finally plastic tray, very often with internal swelling, and this I say as deluded … it always seems that there are many more biscuits and instead then …

Of course I mentioned the cookies as they are a product that is well suited to coffee, but only as an example of a long sad list, list freely too.

It should be noted that the CONAI website informs us of the products and companies that have reduced the impact on the environment: here you can find specifically, a sample concerning biscuits, to stay on the subject.

Do you think we are at least in the right direction?

Is it really that hard to change habits?

I would like to tell you about my experience with the milk distributor, which I have missed a lot since they closed it down, unfortunately.

For me, going with the shopper full of empty bottles to fill even for the neighbors, was one of those mild moments on chaotic days.

My son, then little, had taken it as a game, happy to drink his glass of fresh milk after helping me: he was better than me!

The bottles were reused, the milk came directly from the producer: a farm in the neighboring hamlet of the town, and that could already be enough as a good thing, right?

It had become a beautiful sharing.

It had.

Like all good things, it ended early, because interest always prevails over everything, the cursed law of earnings, according to which the success of that small self-service had probably begun to annoy.

Fortunately, sometimes news arrives from other countries that prove to be more virtuous, do you have any testimony or anecdote to tell? It’s really like this?

How about breaking the boxes?

BOG CHILD

Sep 17, 2021 | BOOKS

This book was Lorenzo’s choice.
Published by Uovonero Bog child was written by Siobhan Dowd: born in London to Irish parents.

And it is Ireland, in particular Northern Ireland, that reading leads us to discover and get to know.

The so-called “main” story takes place in 1981 and is inspired by real events in Long Kesh.

In some way, therefore, I return to talk to you about The Troubles.

In this book you can find Family, Honesty, Friendship, Hope, Sacrifice, but also surprise because very often things are not what they seem.

Siobhan Dowd was winner of the Andersen Prize in 2012, finalist for the Strega Prize and was awarded the Carnegie Medal posthumous.

… Unfortunately a cancer prevented her from continuing to write and interrupted her life at the age of 47.

Her personal story struck me a lot and as often happens to me, the feelings I feel lead me to find details that somehow find a relocation in my history and in my world.

In 1984, a year that occupies a particularly important place in my memories, Siobhan joined the PEN International, an organization that celebrates literature, defends free expression (and I emphasize this because lately it is becoming a much less obvious concept), protect writers at risk, support writers in exile, promote linguistic rights.

With the earnings and royalties from the sale of his books Siobhan wanted to give young people the opportunity to read and appreciate literature by founding The Siobhan Dowd Trust to support worthy projects.

Love for writing, love for freedom, love for kids, love for Ireland = maximum esteem.

And as for “Bog child” in Italy the title has been tranlated like this: The little girl forgotten by time… what else can these words mean?

ARTYCAPUCINES

Sep 17, 2021 | ART, CULTURE, FASHION

What does Artycapucines mean?

Rue des Capucines is the location of the first Louis Vuitton store in Paris.

The maison in 2013 to celebrate this successful debut which dates back to 1854, launched the Capucines bag.

In a short time Capucines became an iconic model.

Arty Capucines is the fusion of classic and art: six international artists personalize the bag expressing their completely unique creative flair.

On the website you can find photos, details and information from the 2020 edition.

The next limited edition of 200 bags will be released in October but many previews are also circulating on the social profiles of artists such as Donna Huanca who defines it as a surreal experience

Among others, I cannot fail to pay particular attention to one name: Paola Pivi.

Do you already know her 2007 performance One Cup of Cappuccino Then I Go?

A photographic print belonging to the ACACIA collection by Gemma De Angelis, donated to the Museo del Novecento in 2015.

In case you’re wondering… yes: it’s a real leopard.

I admit my abysmal ignorance in terms of art, so maybe it’s better if I ask for help … Art and Cult Blog maybe will want to enlighten me.

Meanwhile, I remain on the topic of bags … this artistic performance was the inspiration for the Arty Capucines version curated by Paola Pivi.

The decoration in the shape of cappuccino cups, which a particular varnish makes similar to porcelain, is inserted using the inlay technique, while for the foam the leather, much softer, is embellished with gold leaf applications. Finally, the leopard is made with an overprinted embroidery to give an additional sensory dimension similar to fur.

Paola Pivi advises us to look into the pockets …

what will there be in your opinion?

LA PIETRA CANTANTE – THE SINGING STONE

Sep 11, 2021 | BOOKS

I thank very much Laura who immediately fulfilled the wish I had expressed, making me discover The singing Stone.

“Threepenny works for four cats” could I not immediately fall in love with this book necklace?

IMAGAENARIA is an old-fashioned bookshop, as less and less are found in Italy … the presentation looks like the beginning of a fairy tale and I honestly still am enchanted when I read these things and I feel grateful for the precious recovery of unjustly forgotten works of literature from every time and country.

Vilhelm Bergsøe who I discovered a frequenter of the Caffè Greco in Rome as a member of the Scandinavian Circle was a zoologist and in his book a meticulous and dedicated attention to Nature in all its aspects.

While I was reading, I never stopped imagining Laura intent on her translation work: which must not have been easy at all and for which I can only congratulate her endlessly.

I don’t know about you, but very often, reading books by foreign authors, I do not dwell sufficiently on the scope of the work of those who translate, which undoubtedly plays an essential role.

It is far from simple in fact to recreate the same atmospheres that the author generates with his completely personal way of writing and to keep faith with the original writing style.

Writing is the painting of the voice.

I believe that this quote by Voltaire contains the essence of what level the necessary competence must reach to translate “painting” into another language.

Among other things, The singing Stone is very rich in detailed descriptions of the environment and vegetation, with names of plants that I, for example, did not even know.

A book that has the power to carry the reader on the same path to discover a part of the island of Ischia known only to those who were born there, and who have handed down the stories of their ancestors.

An exploration in nature, but also in time, among the legends that I particularly love and which reunite natural phenomena with the history experienced by the people, in a complete immersion in the magical atmosphere of the place.

Obviously I don’t want to completely reveal the identity of the singing Stone so as not to spoil the pleasure of discovery, which I advise you not to miss.

Rather, we will reconfirm my highest esteem to Laura.
Again and again thank you!