Thursday 20 February 2014

Trampolieri - The Fabulous Sky-walkers of Bologna (1)

"Trampolieri" are the people who walk on stilts. Bologna (Italy) where I live, has a group of dedicated stilt-walkers who use wonderful creativity and imagination to choose new styles, costumes and colours for each of their public appearances.

This photo-essay is a homage to this group of people. It presents some of their pictures that I have clicked over the past 8 years. This first part of the post focusses on the period 2005-2011.

Trampolieri - stilt walkers of Bologna 2005-11, Images by Sunil Deepak

Let me start with some general information about stilt-walking. The art of stilt-walking goes back a long time. There is a mention of stilt-walking in ancient Greek texts, more than two thousand years old. When I was a child, once I had seen a tribal group do a dance on stilts in India. People living in marshy areas build their houses on stilts and sometimes use stilts to cross marshy-watery places. So stilt walking is common to many countries and cultures.

There are different kinds of stilts. You can read more about them on Wikipedia.

In the image below you can see the stilts used by the Bologna group of stilt-walkers - these are made of sturdy wood. A wooden flat piece is fixed to the sole of the shoes, which is then fixed to a wooden piece on the top of the stilt. It requires a good sense of balance and lot of practice to do stilt-walking safely.

Trampolieri - stilt walkers of Bologna 2005-11, Images by Sunil Deepak

2005

I saw the the Trampolieri of Bologna for the first time at the preparation of the summer festival parade (Par Tot parade) in Villa Angeletti park in 2005. I was not too impressed by them. They had a pale hooded dress with black designs on their faces and bodies.

Clicking their pictures while they were moving on stilts was difficult as they were moving quickly and probaly I was standing too close to them. Here are two pictures from that first encounter in 2005.

Trampolieri - stilt walkers of Bologna 2005-11, Images by Sunil Deepak

Trampolieri - stilt walkers of Bologna 2005-11, Images by Sunil Deepak

2006

In 2006 I saw them at the summer rave party. Rave parties are about losing inhibitions, dancing, drinking, and making a lot of noise. It also means getting stoned by smoking weed or taking stronger drugs. In that occasion, the costume of the Trampolieri was simple and in line with the spirit of the rave party. Once again, I was not too impressed with them, though they seemed to be having a good time and enjoying themselves.

Trampolieri - stilt walkers of Bologna 2005-11, Images by Sunil Deepak

Trampolieri - stilt walkers of Bologna 2005-11, Images by Sunil Deepak

2007

The summer festival preparations of the Par Tot parade at Villa Angeletti park in 2007 was the first time that I looked at the Trampolieri with more attention. They had a colourful look. Some people had painted their bodies in gold, some with white and red and some others with red and blue or red and yellow. The costumes had red, purple and black with blue-yellow hats. Thus, in 2007 I clicked a lot of their pictures and started recognising them as a group.

Trampolieri - stilt walkers of Bologna 2005-11, Images by Sunil Deepak

Trampolieri - stilt walkers of Bologna 2005-11, Images by Sunil Deepak

Trampolieri - stilt walkers of Bologna 2005-11, Images by Sunil Deepak

Trampolieri - stilt walkers of Bologna 2005-11, Images by Sunil Deepak

2008

In 2008, I had a glimpse of the Trampolieri at the Bologna GLBTIQ (Gay, Lesbian, Bisexual, Transexual, Intersexual, Queer) pride parade. It was very crowded and noisy, and I could only see them a from a distance. So not many pictures came from this encounter. My favourites in this occasion was a young couple in blue.


Trampolieri - stilt walkers of Bologna 2005-11, Images by Sunil Deepak

Trampolieri - stilt walkers of Bologna 2005-11, Images by Sunil Deepak

2011

I didn't find any good images of Trampolieri in my image archives from 2009 and 2010, and I only found them again in 2011. At the Par Tot parade in the summer festival at the Piazza Maggiore of Bologna, the Trampolieri were present in two main groups. The first group was part of people dressed as giant insects, like the two guys dressed as black spiders shown in the images below.


Trampolieri - stilt walkers of Bologna 2005-11, Images by Sunil Deepak

Trampolieri - stilt walkers of Bologna 2005-11, Images by Sunil Deepak

The second and more numerous group was that of devils and angry spirits, like the followers of Shiva, in different colours and shapes. They were all closed in a prison of a white chain linked to a wooden pole held by the lead couple. Though they were trying to be scary, I think that they looked nice - in my opinion, it was their best look so far. The quality of their body make-up and costumes had improved.

Trampolieri - stilt walkers of Bologna 2005-11, Images by Sunil Deepak

Trampolieri - stilt walkers of Bologna 2005-11, Images by Sunil Deepak

Trampolieri - stilt walkers of Bologna 2005-11, Images by Sunil Deepak

Conclusion

I hope that you have liked this brief introduction to the Trampolieri stilt walkers of Bologna.

To close this post, the last image is from the 2007 Par Tot summer festival parade, of a girl dressed as the sun.

Trampolieri - stilt walkers of Bologna 2005-11, Images by Sunil Deepak

You can check the Facebook page of the Trampolieri of Bologna for more pictures and to know about their other initiatives. You can also read the second part of this post that presents their costumes from 2012 and 2013.
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Sunday 16 February 2014

Vicenza - The City of Andrea Palladio

Vicenza is a small and beautiful city. Its name is linked to Andrea Palladio, one of the most influential medieval architects whose works and ideas continue to inspire architects even today. This post is about a walking tour of Vicenza and an introduction to some of the works of Andrea Palladio.

Vicenza, walking tour - images by Sunil Deepak, 2013

The image above is from the Marine monument near the railway station of Vicenza. Some one had put a christmas cap on the head of Antonio Pigafetta's statue, one of the mariners on the Portuguese ship that went around the world in 1521-22 AD.

Vicenza is on the railway line connecting Venice to Verona and Milan. Usually people visit Venice and then go to Verona for its connection to the Romeo-Juliet story. However, if you have a little time, I recommend that you visit Vicenza and Padova (Padua) on the way - both cities are worth a visit.

Andrea Palladio

Andrea Palladio was born as Andrea di Pietro in Padua in 1508 and his father had a flour mill. When he was 13 years old he came to Vicenza to work as a stone cutter and then as a mason. From this lowly job he rose up to become one of the most admired architects of his time and wrote 4 important books to explain his principles and ideas about architecture.

The statue of Andrea Palladio shown below is from the main city square called Piazza della Signoria (Square of the Lords) in Vicenza.

Vicenza, walking tour - images by Sunil Deepak, 2013

After his death, Palladio's name slowly became famous in the English speaking world where his follower architects called themselves as Palladians. A few years ago, on the occasion of a Palladian exhibition in UK, Jonathan Glancy had written an article about Palladio in The Guardian - The stonecutter who shook the world. Palladio brought back the Roman style of architecture (based on the classical Greek), focusing on symmetery, essential clean lines and grace, avoiding heavy embellishments.

Villa Rotunda, one of Palladio's creations just outside Vicenza (shown in the image below) is one of his more famous buildings. It has inspired a number of important buildings around the world including the White House in USA.

Vicenza, walking tour - images by Sunil Deepak, 2013

The main city square of Vicenza, Piazza dei Signori, is rectangular with a green domed Basilica (Court house) built by Palladio on one side (shown in the image below). In this building you can see the style of windows that became famous as Palladian windows, with a central arched opening in the middle, and narrower, flat roofed openings on the two sides.

Vicenza, walking tour - images by Sunil Deepak, 2013

At one end of the square, two towers carry the symbols of the Venetian republic, of which Vicenza was an important part in the medieval period.

Vicenza, walking tour - images by Sunil Deepak, 2013

On the other end of the square, opposite the Basilica is another of Palladio's creations - the lodge of Capitanio, that now hosts the municiple assembly.

Vicenza, walking tour - images by Sunil Deepak, 2013

A short distance away from the Basilica, is the Academic Theatre (Teatro Academico), another of Palladio's creations.

Vicenza, walking tour - images by Sunil Deepak, 2013

Vicenza, walking tour - images by Sunil Deepak, 2013

City has many other buildings by Palladio including a Palladio museum. Some other buildings, such as the Valmarana lodge (in the image below) in the beautiful Salvi gardens, carry unmistakable signs of Palladio's influence.


Vicenza, walking tour - images by Sunil Deepak, 2013

To honour Palladio, the central street of the old part of Vicenza is called Corso Palladio. Flanked by beautiful shops, medieval buildings and sculptures, it is the street where Vicentini (people of Vicenza) come out for their walk on the weekends.

Vicenza, walking tour - images by Sunil Deepak, 2013

Other places to Visit in Vicenza

The pink coloured medieval cathedral of Vicenza (il Duomo) is worth a visit. Its dome was also designed by Palladio.

Vicenza, walking tour - images by Sunil Deepak, 2013

Vicenza, walking tour - images by Sunil Deepak, 2013

The cathedral has a number of beautiful paintings such as the one shown below (by Bartolomeo Montagna from early sixteenth century).

Vicenza, walking tour - images by Sunil Deepak, 2013

Another important church of Vicenza, just off Corso Palladio, is Santa Corona (Holy crown). Palladio is buried here and he had also designed parts of this church.

Vicenza, walking tour - images by Sunil Deepak, 2013

Santa Corona church is full of wonderful paintings like the one shown below (by Gianbattista Pittoni).

Vicenza, walking tour - images by Sunil Deepak, 2013

Another nice place to visit in Vicenza is the wonderful Querini gardens with a canal, water birds and medieval statues.

Vicenza, walking tour - images by Sunil Deepak, 2013

Vicenza, walking tour - images by Sunil Deepak, 2013

San Michele bridge, also called the old bridge, from sixteenth century is closed to the traffic and is a romantic looking place.

Vicenza, walking tour - images by Sunil Deepak, 2013

Around San Michele bridge and just behind the Basilica is the oldest part of the city.

Vicenza, walking tour - images by Sunil Deepak, 2013

San Lorenzo church from 13th century is one of the older churches of Vicenza.

Vicenza, walking tour - images by Sunil Deepak, 2013

Close to the city, behind the railway station is a small hill called Monte Berico that has the Monte Berico church, built at a place where a peasant had seen the Madonna in 15th century. Going up the hill along a passage covered with archways, is a wonderful way to look at the snow-covered Alps mountains surrounding Vicenza and for the beautiful panoramas of the city, as shown in the images below.

Vicenza, walking tour - images by Sunil Deepak, 2013

Vicenza, walking tour - images by Sunil Deepak, 2013

Vicenza, walking tour - images by Sunil Deepak, 2013

In the panoramic view of Vicenza seen in the image below, you can easily see the green dome shaped roof of Palladio's Basilica.

Vicenza, walking tour - images by Sunil Deepak, 2013

Parts of Vicenza shown in these pictures are all situated in a relatively small area and are easy to visit on a walking tour, starting from the railway station.

The last image of this walking tour has a wonderful sculpture by a Vicentini artist called Nereo Quagliato and in it, you can also see the dome of the Cathedral,designed by Andrea Palladio.

Vicenza, walking tour - images by Sunil Deepak, 2013

When you visit Vicenza, works of Palladio accompany you every where. If you have time you can even join tours that take you to the different villas designed by Palladio in the surrounding small towns and countrysides. I have been told that it is a wonderful tour with wonderful views of vineyards.

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Saturday 15 February 2014

Artists working together

Nicola Zamboni and Sara Bolzani are two Italian sculptors. I like their works very much. In May 2013, I had the opportunity to visit them and to learn about them and their art. This is the last part of that interview.

Nicola Zamboni and Sara Bolzani

Sunil: Sara, tell me about your artistic journey, how did you decide to be a sculptor?

Sara: At high school level I went to the art school in Monza. There I had a good teacher who did clay modelling and sculpture, so I got into it. He literally forced me to go to the Brera art academy in Milan. For the first 2 years I was with Prof. Giancarlo Marchese, but I was not feeling creatively happy with him. For the first year he made me do only sketching, without ever touching the clay and I did not like it. At that time I already had a studio and I was doing sculptures. Then in 1997, in the third year I went to some lessons with Nicola, and from the first lesson, I wanted to work with him. Luckily, it worked out and I could shift my classes. He told me to work with bronze, and once I did that, I fell in love with it. Two of my important works in that period were in Bronze, and I did my thesis on Nicola.

At that time I was also working as a waitress because I needed money to buy materials for my art. Nicola told me to give up that work and he gave me some work like making holes in the leaves, making small sculptures of fishes, etc. and he paid me. Some time after finishing the academy I started living with him.

Nicola: The personal thing between us, it happened when she was out of the academy and was no longer my student. I think that it is important to clarify it since I don't think that teacher can have relationships with their students, it would not be correct professional behaviour.

Sara: So now each of us has our own individual work but we collaborate when we make sculptures for public spaces. "The Humanity" project started in 2003. It started as a project for a school but we could not manage it, but then we continued with it for many years up to 2008-09. Since then, because of the crisis it has got a little slowed down.

Since 2001 after our first journey in India, I am also working on the theme of women.

Sunil: How do you influence each other? Do you influence each other?

Nicola Zamboni and Sara Bolzani

Nicola: Surely we influence each other. To be in love is necessary for creating art, it becomes the oxygen that you breathe. There are things we share, like our love for travelling, our love for food, our way of living. It all influences the way we work and the kind of things we make. However, we don't share similar taste in music, I love classical music while she loves Bruce Springsteen and Vasco Rossi.

Sara: Perhaps that is a generational thing.

Nicola: It is not generational, I was like this when I was twenty. My son, he is forty, he also loves classical music.

Sara: But the world has changed, your twenty years were very different from my twenty years. Coming to the questioning of reciprocal influence, in the initial phase of our work, we do sit together and ask each other's opinion.

Nicola: We are very honest in giving opinion to each other.

Sara: Suppose he makes a horse, I can tell him that in my opinion, the neck is too long or he says that the arm of the my sculpture is too thin in this part.. so we criticise each other's work. We recognise that there are some things that he is good at and I am not so good, there are other things that I can make better. So in our joint works, we keep account of these things.

Nicola: In some human figures in bronze, she is really good, even if I try I can't match her.

Sunil: Apart from India, was there any other journey that has influenced your work?

Sara: Even our journey to Cambodia was significant, in terms of female figures. The influence of Africa has been much less. But some journeys like from this last journey in India, there are things that will remain in my heart for ever. Kumar, our guide, took us to the village of his wife. There the headman, an elderly person with white beard, he washed our feet as a sign of welcome. I was so embarrassed and at the same time, it touched me very deeply. It was an emotional experience very different from the experiences of other journeys. For example, once we were in Mexico and went to a catholic church, where the floor was covered with pine needles, and every where they had statues of saints. Another strange thing was that people were drinking coke and making loud hiccups, so it was a church prayer with some strange rituals. I can remember that experience with pleasure but it did not touch me emotionally like this journey to India touched me. They have influenced our work most.

***

Nicola has made two sculptures of Sara. In one, she is lying down nude, her arms up holding a big fish. In another sculpture, Sara is surrounded by stalks of tall weed or thin bamboo like plants, holding her a prisoner, and she is followed by a figure in a veil.

Nicola Zamboni and Sara Bolzani

Nicola Zamboni and Sara Bolzani

Sara has also made a sculpture of Nicola. In this, a weaver (Sara) is making a quilt and in the quilt, there is Nicola's face made with metal wires.

Nicola Zamboni and Sara Bolzani


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Read more about Nicola Zamboni & Sara Bolzani

Friday 14 February 2014

Becoming a woman

The 2011 film by the dutch director Susan Koenen, "I am a girl" (original title: Ik ben een meisje) is about a 13 year old girl, Joppe, her growing up and her crush on a boy. Joppe was born a boy and the film touches on her journey to become a woman.

A still from I Am A Girl

Story

Joppe has braces, long hair and a beautiful smile. Like her friends, she also dreams of love. She has a crush on Brian, but he does not answer her gestures for going out with her. Then one day Joppe hears from her friends that Brian is going out with another girl and she is sad. "I won't let it keep me down, life will go on", she tells her friends.

At the background of this simple tale of a teenage crush and growing up pains, is the story of Joppe's transformation from a boy to a girl, who wants to become a woman.

Comments

It is a simple film told in a simple way. At one level Joppe's journey of transformation from a boy to a girl seems almost painless. As a very young child she decided that she preferred to be a girl. Initially her family did not agree, but then they accepted her decision and in 5th standard (final year of primary school) she started this journey of transformation.

A still from I Am A Girl

In the school it seems that Joppe has no problems from her classmates or from other young people. She spends her time with her friends. And when she goes to the middle school, she explains to her classmates about herself, so that everyone knows about what she is going through.

Joppe starts receiving injectable medicines that can stop her body from producing the male hormone, so that her body will not have the typical changes that occur in the boys during puberty - such as deepening of voice, growth of facial and body hair and growth of genitals.

Joppe knows what will be the path of her transformation. When Joppe will be sixteen years old, she can start receiving female hormones so that her body can start having the changes that girls get at puberty - such as more fat on the thighs and buttocks, and development of breasts. Later she will go through surgery so that her genitals will take the female form.

Joppe's journey of transformation is not completely painless though as her experience with Brian shows. Young people in her community may not be cruel or discriminatory to her, but at the same time, she is seen as different and at the beginning of any new relationship with a boy or a man, she will need to face the dilemma of "Can I tell him that I was born a boy?" and then let the boy/man decide if he wishes to continue that relationship.

She is aware that though she can wear a bikini and go to the swimming pool with her friends, she is also a little anxious if others can make out the difference. In the bathroom of the swimming pool, she sees other girls with their growing breasts and the feminine curves, and worries about her own flat chest and curveless body.

Most of all, Joppe is aware that "becoming a woman" is not a journey with an end point, but rather, it is a life long journey where she has to keep on becoming and transforming. And on this journey, she will have to face many other challenges.

About one day making a family with a man, Joppe says, "If he would wish for a family with children, perhaps he can have a child with a surrogate mother. It will be only his biological child, but I won't mind it so much."

***

You can watch "I am a girl" with English subtitles on Aeon Film website - it is free of charge.

Credits
Ik ben een meisje
Director: Susan Koenen
Producer: Albert Klein Haneveld
Editor: Denise Janzée, Susan Koenen
Cinematographer: Reinout Steenhuizen
Sound: Bouwe Mulder

Running Time: 15 minutes
Language: Dutch with English subtitles
Website: www.ikbeneenmeisje.nl

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Thursday 13 February 2014

Art for Public Places - Nicola Zamboni

In May 2013, I met the Italian sculptor duo, Nicola Zamboni and Sara Bolzani. Nicola believes in art for public spaces rather than art for rich individuals or for museums. Here are some excerpts of our conversation.

Nicola Zamboni and his sculptures - images by Sunil Deepak, 2013

Sunil: Nicola lets start with you. Please tell me about how did you decide to become a sculptor and which experiences shaped you as an artist?

Nicola: From the childhood I was interested in sculpture and painting. My father, who was a factory worker, wanted me to become an accountant, so I did go to the accountancy school, but I was not good at studies. At the time of my final exam, the president of the commission was a person who knew me, said that we shall pass you but you have to promise us two things - one that you will make a bust of Marconi (our school was called named after him) for the school and second, you will never work as an accountant!

Actually I did work briefly as an accountant, but after a few months, the owner told me that it would be better for me to do something else. So I went to the art academy but I did not finish it. During the third year of art college, I went to UK at Henry Moore's house for one month and when I came back to Bologna, I did not want to study any more. At the school we had a good teacher, prof. Ghirmandi, he asked me to become his assistant. Since then I have spent all my life as a sculptor.

Today I find persons who have no preparation or experience, but after 2 days of art work they want to be recognised as artists or sculptors!

Sunil: So you think that formal art training is important for an artist?

Nicola: I think that you need to have talent as an artist but you also need to work hard and practice your skills. With a lot of hard work and discipline, even with little talent you can reach good results. Others can reach good results because they have a lot of talent though they do not have enough discipline. But generally speaking, you need a little talent and a lot of discipline and hard work to be a good artist.

Nicola Zamboni and his sculptures - images by Sunil Deepak, 2013
Sunil: I have seen your works in terracotta, stone and metal - which is your favourite material?

Nicola: I like all the different materials, each has its own characteristics that are unique and that you have learn to understand and discover. My desire was to create works that can be displayed in public spaces, especially in spaces of the marginalised people and peripheries, so I always try to adapt my working materials to the economic possibilities of those who can commission my work. I also need to think of the place where the art will be displayed, in selecting the materials. For example, for the sculptures in Parco Pasolini in Pilastro area of Bologna, they did not have lot of money and the work was huge. I was supposed to create sculptures of a long line of persons going to the theatre spread over 500 meters, so I used mostly cement and a little stone. I made persons without faces, without features, who as they reach the theatre acquire features and become full persons. Those sculptures also included a theatre with seats, but 5-6 years ago the municipality decided to cover that part of my work and now it is gone.

Sometimes, vandals can deface your work in public spaces, but usually it is the institutions that suddenly decide to destroy art in public places.

Sunil: Why did you choose to make art for public spaces?

Nicola: I don't like the idea of rich persons keeping my art hidden away where no one looks at it, except may be for their Dobermans, who piss on it regularly in their gardens, and only once in a while some person will look at it. In the big museums, you find all kinds of art works put together, you have to look at them all at one time, one after another. On the other hand, the art, especially sculptures, need to interact with the people and the city spaces, it is part of the city life. Society needs to look at the art and say what do they think of it. Society needs to tell the artist what it appreciates in art, there should be a dialogue between the artist and the city. So every space, every context, needs it own style of art and this is a challenge for the artist - you need to think of the spaces and find artistic idea for that space, rather than having your own style of art that you put up every where.

Sunil: If you look backwards on your works, do you see some kind of evolution?

Nicola: When I had come back to Bologna after staying with Henry Moore, I was in love with him and for some time, all my works resembled his. I feel that we are always influenced by works of others, there is nothing that comes out of no where, you always find inspirations in the life around you and in the works of others. Thus, started a period of experimentation for me. For one year, I asked a construction company to work with them. During that one year, I was using their materials - stones, cement, wood, anything that caught my fancy, and I worked on it. So I got my materials and in exchange they got all my art works and these were put up in different parts of Bologna and San Lazzaro (suburb of Bologna). During that year I felt that contemporary art was not the right style for Bologna - after a few years, the contemporary sculptures do not fit in the city spaces any more. So I turned towards more classical figures for my sculptures.
Nicola Zamboni and his sculptures - images by Sunil Deepak, 2013
Many of those sculptures in public spaces, are now in a bad condition, but that is the risk of making public works, to be a street artist is not easy for your art. In a museum, your art is safe and people take care of it. Destruction of my art work is part of their life cycles. I accept it. However when institutions, deliberately destroy my art, that hurts me. In Via Larga in Bologna, near the mall, I had built about 120 sculptures. There were sculptures of some well known people among them. However, some 7-8 years ago, they destroyed all of them and that hurt me. Only some pictures remain of that monumental work.

Sunil: Among all your works, do you feel especially close to some specific work?

Nicola: The group of bronze sculptures that I am making now with Sara, "The Humanity" that is very close to my heart. It is an allegory for modern times. It has figures of those who are killing others, destroying things, destroying their animals. It also has those who are trying to run away, to escape with their miserly belongings and their dreams.

Sunil: When I had seen the exhibition of "The Humanity", I had thought that it represented a medieval war.

Nicola: It is an allegory about modern times but I chose medieval style for its representation since warriors with their medieval dresses and armors express strongly the differences between those who kill and the other simple persons. If I had made them with modern clothes, it was more difficult to express this concept. These persons hide their faces behind armors, masks and shields, so that they are no longer persons, but they turn into things. That mask and armor can mean a bank account, some secret group, some power - so those sculptures are not about a medieval war, rather medieval war is a symbolism for what is happening in the world today.

Like there are the animals in those sculptures, they have been pulled into this war, and they are also the unfortunate victims of this war. To show all this, I decided to express myself through an allegory. It is not only men who are destroyers, there also some women also, dressed as warriors in this work.

Sunil: And the women covered with veils where you can see only their eyes?

Sara: They are part of the victims, those who are trying to escape this war, the refugees.

Nicola: Once we went for holidays at a seaside resort in the middle east. There were American and German women who were walking around in bikini and then there were local women, covered from head to feet.

Sara: These two very contrasting ways of dressing brought together in one place, it was a strange and powerful sight. A very strange kind of fashion show.

Nicola: I liked it very much, this contrasting visual, though I must say that I believe in the freedom of choice, that people must be able to choose what they wish to wear. At the same time, I think that it is worse when people forget their customs and become homogenized. For example on the TV to see the leader of China dressed exactly like the leader of USA or France, that seems so strange to me!
Nicola Zamboni and his sculptures - images by Sunil Deepak, 2013
Sara: Even in Africa, where traditions are lost and a lot of persons dress like westerners, though fortunately there are some people who still wear their traditional dresses.

Nicola: There are some paintings from Venice from the 15th century, where you can see persons from different parts of the world - the Arabs, the Jews, the Indians, each with their own way of dressing. It is so beautiful. I think that differences of costumes is a beautiful richness of our humanity, providing that people have a choice in deciding what they wish to wear and are not forced to do it in a certain way.

Sunil: This opera "The Humanity" how do you see it, already complete or you still making new sculptures for it?

Nicola: As long as I will have strength in my body, I will keep on making new sculptures to add to the Humanity. However, now I want to focus only on making the sculptures of persons who are the victims of this war, who are trying to run away to save their lives and livelihoods. These sculptures of "The Humanity" have already been to four exhibitions - first in Modena, then in Arezzo, then in Accursio palace in Bologna, then in Piazza dell'Unità in Bologna.

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Read the first 2 Parts of this Post

Monday 10 February 2014

Sara Bolzani: Inspired by India

Nicola Zamboni and Sara Bolzani are two Italian sculptors. I like their works very much. In May 2013, I had the opportunity to visit them and talk to them about their art. This post is about their visits to India and how India has inspired some of Sara's sculptures.

Nicola Zamboni and Sara Bolzani - images by Sunil Deepak, 2013

Nicola and Sara live in Sala Bolognese, a small rural town to the north of Bologna. In the middle of the farm houses, their house also seems like a usual farm house.

When we reached their home, Nicola was waiting for us in his studio on the ground floor. He took us up to the first floor where they live and where Sara was also waiting for us. They had just been in India at the Maha Kumbh Mela in Allahabad and then had been to visit Varanasi. The visit had had a strong impact on them and ideas of India had influenced Sara's recent art works. So our conversations started with India.

Here are some excerpts from this conversation:

Sara: My series on sculptures of women started from a journey to India, more than 10 years ago, when we had gone to Rajasthan. I like very much the way women wear sari in India.

Nicola: In India I thought that Sara looked so Indian and we met one person who was so much like her brother.

Sara: In India my skin had become darker and many people thought that I was an Indian so they spoke to me in Hindi. I really wanted us to stay on in India for a longer period and work with some Indian artists, but we had no contacts with any artists there. I am also interested in learning more about Hindu mythology because I feel that can be an inspiration for my work. I was told about the different gods and how each god and goddess is linked to an animal, I want to explore this relationship. I need to find some easy to understand book. I tried with Bhagvad Geeta but it is just too difficult and it does not talk about the different gods. I have done some work on Greek mythological figures like Antigone. I like expressing those stories through my sculptures.

Sunil: In Bologna, there is a significant Bengali community and they organise Durga Puja every year at Centro Zonarelli, so that can be an opportunity for you to observe some of the Hindu mythologies directly rather than reading about them in books. That sculpture (pointing to a sculpture in the room) with the tiger and the woman seems inspired by the figure of Durga in Hindu mythology.

Sara: Actually that sculpture is linked to a daytime dream that I had many years ago. It was a vivid dream, very strong and very emotional. I was going from house to Milan and I was in a hurry, suddenly I felt as I had turned into a tiger, and I was running on four legs. It was such a powerful feeling. I have tried to express that feeling in this sculpture of the tiger and the woman.

I made it three years ago and a person who collects our works wanted it but for a long time I did not want to see it, I felt that it was very personal. In the end, I made a copy of those sculptures and sold it. Then another collector bought only the woman, so I copied the woman's sculpture. Now another collector wants both of them, so I have to make a copy of both the figures because I always want this sculpture with me to remind me of that vivid dream.

However, my last work has been inspired from India. I had seen a woman with a plate in her hand and I thought that it was a wonderful inspiration for a sculpture. So after coming back from the Kumbh mela trip, I have made this woman with a plate in her hand. I finished it last week and now it is being exhibited in a church.

Here are some images of Sara's works including the woman with the tiger and two of her India inspired works.

Nicola Zamboni, Sara Bolzani and the woman with the tiger - images by Sunil Deepak, 2013

Sara Bolzani's India inspired sculptures - images by Sunil Deepak, 2013

Sara Bolzani's India inspired sculptures - images by Sunil Deepak, 2013


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