HOPE GIVES LIFE

by Gabriel Pacheco

Icaro © Gabriel Pacheco, Arka Edizioni

Icaro © Gabriel Pacheco, Arka Edizioni

Here in Sarmede, we love gossiping, we are always chatting and organising dinners, because the Italian traditions of gathering around the table is fully alive, and this table allows us to get to know each other. During one of these dinners I exposed to Leo Pizzol my future project and he asked me, without thinking, Why don’t you come and live in Sarmede? And I answered, why not… We got along well from the very beginning, we had fun together and this played a big role in my decision of moving here.
Almost everywhere in the world, all the arguments about art are just empty words. But here the words can turn into action. People are openminded and interested in new ideas, even if they have different opinions, they understand and respect everyone. Being an artist in Sarmede is a natural and constant action, there is a naïf approach to action, we take action because we need action, we live life because it’s our life, not for our ego, we make art on instinct, not after deep considerations.
In Sarmede we witness how an idea can actually transform our surroundings, and our surroundings can transform the people through love, friendship, or madness. Here hope becomes tangible, the town maintains its authentic soul, and I call it hope. Hope is when there is a chance to keep going, and the key to preserve hope, and life, is to keep going. When a foreigner breaks the acquired balance, he brings new hope, the hope that something is about to happen.
Sarmede is a small town, its inhabitants are passionate, full of hope and ingenious, they all work with the same care and enthusiasms that characterise the official works. I do not want to go back to the city. I’ve lived in Mexico City, in Buenos Aires, and I think that we should abandon the cities and burn them down, in order to start from scratch, because we have forgotten about life, the action for the sake of action, the artist’s creative urgency, unconcerned about awards, exhibitions, critical praise. MAKING ART FOR THE PLEASURE OF MAKING ART. In this town, I’ve found this natural instinct which is tangible and real.
The discovery of this instinct, this source, enlightened my life.