Ciao America!

What seems to be especially appealing to our sensibility about the history is the notion, that there is a certain proximity between us and the ones we only know from photos and stories. Without doubt, their lives and choices had shaped the world, so that it became the one we know . It seems (and I found it particularly moving)that we are now experiencing something of a turn in a history. I mean the change we can see around. While I was thinking about the word we all know, the word that builds up the everyday, as we are rushing through the day, this image just crossed my mind.
The familiarity can be carried around the world – wherever a tender curiosity and a smile help us through the meetings with other people and cultures. Ciao is not only a greeting word, bu also a symbol of hostility, opened arms. It embodies a kind of personal bravery in breaking the ice and overcoming little social dissonances. It is also the familiar and the first thing that we can share in a meeting with people of different cultures. The everyday practice and personal approach is what shapes the world unnoticeably, as our single “ciaos” are becoming a great gesture that goes down to hisotry.

The illustration refers to the eauropean immigration to the USA in 1900s, which was crucial for the development of its culture (a fact that seems to be partially forgotten by the Americans). I imagined the moment of great hope, embodied by the steamliner full of people, who in their hearts carried who they are.