WHY CASA DIDUN: THE MOTIVES BEHIND

To this point I have been trying to introduce you to the area and the space giving a general and simplistic outline of the cultural and social background. There is much more to be said about this place, but then again it's also up to you to discover it and see it in your own light and not just through my 'distorted' personal impressions.

Nevertheless I think it is important for you to understand the motivations behind this project. Partly I have them already interwoven in the past pages writing.
I only hope I have not constructed a big confusing mishmash of geography, locations, people, history, culture, social and economics realities. They are all indeed tightly connected whilst continuously affecting one another. In my view, they can only make sense if all together in a painterly manner. A 'chiaroscuro' of positive-negative meanings, where each line and each colour informs the whole.

I will try to be brief and direct in illustrating those motivations the best I can so that you can get a more complete picture.

Although less than an hour drive from two airprots: Nice and Genoa, and easily accessible from Turin, Milan and Pisa airports, this part of region is controversially beautifully isolated. I am not sure if purposely avoided, maybe forgotten but surely overlooked by contemporary culture other than TV and the mass-media. Art, here, in its many new and updated forms, has definitely been left out if not ignored.

Through our friendship and thanks to an open minded attitude and an intelligent curiosity, Monica has been able to understand and appreciate contemporary art. Her eclectic personality has allowed her to widen her interests and horizons all the way to art!  Passing through foreigner artists have also partly contributed to her art education.
It's also worth mentioning Donna Lee Corboy, a very talented New Zealander artist that after travelling the world as a theatre performer has now reinveted herself here in Dolcedo as a photographer and video artists. Donna has settled in Dolcedo several years ago now, and working hard in trying to expose the locals to all art forms, especially dance, music and photography.

Monica has always had visionary desires. Her dream to open up the people of Dolcedo to the world, to widen their closed mentality while being respectful and sensitive to their backgrounds, can maybe be achieved through art!

Development and evolution of her original 'agriturismo' business has been a stimulating factor, but Monica's natural inclination is to share, and to share the proud treasures of Dolcedo with the world is her proud dream. 

Since the birth of her two daughters: Tea and Sophie, Monica has gardually understood, becoming increasingly more aware of the importance of the role of art and culture in society. I believe her new responsibility as a mother has been a decisive factor for her to view art not anymore as a passive, decorative accessory but as an active agent in life instead.

Now her dream is not anymore just about the future of her village but something much more personal and direct: the future of her girls! Of course both are interdependent and linked together in the end.

I think Monica's gist is a gift to her children as well as to the community.
How sad and boring for the pupils that live in this part of the world to attend schools were art is considered a secondary, minor subject and therefore barely tackled. How sad to deprive the future generations of a very important aspect of life: the creative one, the one that informs our souls.

To declare your self an artist in Italy especially in villages like Dolcedo is still a bit of a joke that nobody gets how serious it is!

So here they are, the main motivations that have led to this collaboration between art and agriculture.

The strategy of this programme is not to shock nor enforce art on the community but to gently guide them into it instead. The goal is to slowly convince them of its advantages and to make them fall in a loving and lasting relationship.