something went wrong. we were lucky enough to live on the most wonderful planet. under the most superb sky. surrounded by the most amazing nature. but something went wrong. we learned to talk and write and communicate from many miles away. we created art. chemistry physics and mathematics. literature and history and geography and culture! we learnt to sail the sky and the earth. we breathed life into dreams. but something went wrong. my mother used to tell me: un mono aunque se vista de seda, siempre mono queda. (a monkey in silk is a monkey no less). and we. clearly. are and will remain monkeys. bully and arrogant. sadly. monkeys blinded by vanity and greed. (someone told us we were superior).
so. with no hope for the future. for if you take your eyes off the screens you’ll see that there’s no horizon left before us. I was ready to close this magazine. even willing to quit the book thing. because by now illiteracy is around the corner. so I might as well start selling French fries. I remembered Salgado as a model. of a man who after capturing ugliness. injustice. nonsense. was able to start again from the beauty of the unspoiled nature of our planet. creating a project and a photobook. GENESIS.*
birth. creation. origin. and therefore hope.
this is the theme for ILLUSTRATI 2019. SEVEN ISSUES. FOR SEVEN DAYS. (I think of the musical and allow myself to smile).
AND THERE WAS LIGHT. In the beginning, the heavens and the earth were created. The earth was without form and void, and darkness was over the face of the deep and the spirit was hovering over the face of the waters. It was said, “Let there be light,” and there was light. And the light was good and the light was separated from the darkness and it was called Day, and the darkness was called Night. And there was evening and there was morning: THE FIRST DAY.
THE FIRMAMENT. And it was said, “Let there be a firmament in the midst of the waters, and let it separate the waters from the waters.” And the firmament was made and separated the waters that were under the firmament from the waters that were above the firmament. And it was so. And the firmament was called Heaven. And there was evening and there was morning: THE SECOND DAY.
THE EARTH. And it was said, “Let the waters under the heavens be gathered together into one place, and let the dry land appear.” And it was so. The dry land was called Earth, and the waters that were gathered together were called Seas. And it was good and it was said, “Let the earth sprout vegetation, plants yielding seed, and fruit trees bearing fruit in which is their seed, each according to its kind, on the earth.” And it was so. The earth brought forth vegetation, plants yielding seed according to their own kinds, and trees bearing fruit in which is their seed, each according to its kind. And it was good. And there was evening and there was morning: THE THIRD DAY.
THE SUN, THE MOON AND THE STARS. And it was said, “Let there be lights in the firmament of the heavens to separate the day from the night. And let them be for signs and for seasons, and for days and years, and let them be lights in the firmament of the heavens to give light upon the earth.” And it was so. And the two great lights were made—the greater light to rule the day and the lesser light to rule the night—and the stars.
And they were set in the firmament of the heavens to give light on the earth, to rule over the day and over the night, and to separate the light from the darkness. And it was good. And there was evening and there was morning: THE FOURTH DAY.
THE ANIMALS OF WATER AND HEAVENS. And it was said, “Let the waters swarm with swarms of living creatures, and let birds fly above the earth across the firmament of the heavens.” So the great sea creatures were created and every living creature that moves, with which the waters swarm, according to their kinds, and every winged bird according to its kind. And it was good and they were blessed with these words, “Be fruitful and multiply and fill the waters in the seas, and let birds multiply on the earth.” And there was evening and there was morning: THE FIFTH DAY.
THE ANIMALS OF THE EARTH. And it was said, “Let the earth bring forth living creatures according to their kinds—livestock and creeping things and beasts of the earth according to their kinds.” And it was so. And the beasts of the earth were made according to their kinds and the livestock according to their kinds, and everything that creeps on the ground according to its kind. And it was good. They were created male and female, and they were blessed and were told, “Behold, I have given you every plant yielding seed that is on the face of all the earth, and every tree with seed in its fruit. You shall have them for food. And to every beast of the earth and to every bird of the heavens and to everything that creeps on the earth, everything that has the breath of life, I have given every green plant for food.” And it was so and it was very good. And there was evening and there was morning: THE SIXTH DAY.
REST OR FREEDOM. Thus the heavens and the earth were completed in all their vast array. By THE SEVENTH DAY all the work was finished and on the seventh day there was rest from all this work. And the seventh day was blessed and made holy, because on it there was rest from all the work of creating that had been done.
These are the beginnings of heavens and earth, when they were created.
these are the beginnings I invite you to recreate. reconstruct from scratch. start over. from darkness. in order to meet light. a new light. day by day. for all the seven days. a personal challenge. a human challenge. that offers itself a new chance. in order to reinvent and reimagine what exists and what doesn’t exist. but above all to reconsider. day by day. our creation. our actions.
#GOD is not there. I have removed him. to give you greater freedom. to believe. or not to believe. I have removed man as well. to remove any idea of the supremacy of a species. in the new world subjection shouldn’t exist. man and the other living creatures should be equal.
let’s reinvent the world. and reinvent also. and above all. ourselves.
before we disappear.
*See #GAIA #ILLUSTRATI n. 43 May 2017 and From My Land to the Planet by Sebastião Salgado and Isabelle Francq, Consortium Book.