#BLIND because of the blindness we live in. because of our lost ability to observe and analyse. we have become the Magritte’s pipe. we are nothing but images. photographs taken by someone else. it has been decided for us. who is beautiful. who is ugly. we are two-dimensional and distant pictures. that do not express the surface of our skin. the sockets of our eyes. the thickness of our lips. the sweetness of our shoulders. the marks of history on our flesh. we have become backgrounds. landscapes. nice and homogeneous. without ripples. reflections of ourselves. we have lost our physicality. our identity. character. and beauty. all to conform to a superficial aesthetic ideal. an illusion. we are just silhouettes in a group photograph in which we might not even fit in.
during the research for this #ILLUSTRATI issue. realised thanks to the fortuitous encounter with CBM Italia Onlus. I have rediscovered our reality through darkness. I reinterpreted it through the blind eyes of the people I have met and interviewed with Roger Olmos. I had the opportunity to examine in depth concerns that had always stayed with me. and spontaneous questions arose in my mind: what would happen if we touched instead of looking at each other? or if we were touched? brushed. felt. squeezed. caressed. handled. hugged. sniffed. licked. kissed? our picture would disappear to be replaced by a palpable three-dimensional body. without make-up. without secrets. talking about itself through every little detail. about its current mood. history. family’s past. what it eats. and what it does not eat.
through this theme I want to focus the attention on what’s behind my lens. and not ahead of it. to look. observe. understand and therefore take action on a 360-degree scale. maybe even 720… 1440… starting from the vision. or blindness. I live in a world where life and priorities are different for each one of us. a world in which what I take for granted is impossible for many others. starting from the blind people I pass by in the streets simply asking myself whether they will be able to cross it. to the people who become blind because in their world. not so distant from ours. the word poverty takes on a deep and hopeless meaning. I would like to move from the DARKNESS of my ignorance to the LIGHT of my future seeing and understanding. blindness does not simply mean the inability to see. but also the unwillingness.
thanks to CBM. for stopping me during the Bologna Fair. for introducing me to the reality of blind people in Italy. and above all in the rest of the world. for using the word inclusion. so close to the word empathy. thanks to Roger for accompanying me in this adventure. thanks to all the illustrators who have contributed to this issue. especially Ana Juan. Pietro Sedda. Roger Olmos, again. Giulia Pintus. Akab. Arianna Papini. François Roca. Claudio Romo. Dilka. Marco Palena. who have created an illustration expressly for this issue. and thanks in advance to all those who will be eager to explore. with me. this new dimension in the next months. did I say the next months?