Sunday, November 25, 2012

Affordable Art Fair


Welcome to the Affordable Art Fair in Rome. I didn't expect to be so enthralled by this affair but as I was approaching the entrance with this gigantic bamboo installation, I knew I was about to be - well, wowed.

A short video I took of the event here:

Thursday, November 15, 2012

Libya 2006


That is a picture of the ancient Greek and Roman ruins of Libya, from a distance. It is hard to imagine that once upon a time here in this dry desert was a thriving enterprise and an empire teeming with activity, drama, and culture just a few thousand years ago. Perhaps now it is all left completely to our imagination especially after the recent civil war and bombings. Without these landmarks, these fossils, who will remember? Unless one bothers to pick up a book, or look through some photographs, it is as if nothing happened. All turned into dust.


These film photographs were taken in 2006 by my husband Francesco. Back then he had the lucky opportunity to visit (it was never so easy for foreigners to visit Libya under Geddafi). At the time he was so inspired by his experience that he immediately wrote a book, very personal and he was about to publish it but unfortunately one of the real-life characters involved in the book did not approve of it and it had to go hidden until the recent war broke out and a sudden desire to release this work made him rewrite the whole book and publish it this year. I used some of his pictures from the actual trip to create the cover for Libya 2006: Viaggio a tre voci (A Trip in 3 Voices). Here is the design I came up with, my imagination of what Libya feels like.


The publisher has a fixed format for their books so I didn't have to design the title and text but here is how it looks printed.


It is in Italian and Francesco has some copies if anyone is interested in purchasing. Do you think its a good idea to try and make it available for purchase online?

Sunday, November 11, 2012

InterNations



Not too long ago I thought I'd finally attend one of the gatherings of InterNations here in Italy. We happened to be in Bologna for the 5th anniversary party and so I contacted Neima Sitawi, an expat fashion designer who was the host of the event, and asked if I could do a short video/photo coverage. So I did and went and met some interesting people. One of them a bag designer for Prada in Florence who seemed too nice and friendly to be working for a haute couture brand. Tamsin, a certified expat and traveller, led me to this site and network and I thought, brilliant! People out of their countries all in one place! Have you connected with your local InterNations community yet?

Thursday, November 8, 2012

Letter


This is a chapter worth skipping as I am about to tread past blogging SOP and move back to how I once wrote online, back when nobody read my rambles and I was much more intense/intimate with life. It has been almost three years that I/we have been moving about and around Italy. Rome is treating us well, fairest weather, vibrant and crazy. It reminds me a little bit of another crazy capital - Manila, ten times more wacky where I last spent my days before I made this big move.