Torino Spiritualità

I was not able to follow many of the readings and discussions and performances organized for this amazing gathering that is Torino Spiritualità, during which thousands of people come to Torino to listen to inspiring talks about spirituality.

I attended a performance by Fabrizio Vespa called Kumbhaka, something inbetween a concert and a reading. And was not totally enthusiastic about it.

I mean: take the bass player of one of the leading bands in Italy (Subsonica). Take the member of another iconic band (Africa Unite). Put them together. The music is almost done. Then take a few singers, poets, writers, painters. Put them altogether and stir slowly. What you are trying to cook here is a reproduction of the 10 commandments of the Catholic religion. Which they all represent in their own, non-religious way. All the ingredients should be there, yet there's something missing for the perfect recipe. The video is capturing at times but then distracting. The quality of the performance is not consistently good. If a couple of performers excel and their message goes straight to your heart or to your mind, a few of them are as insignificant as tasteless food. And, even if they are presented on the same table, they are not on the same menu. If at times you feel like you have to dance 'cause the music is compelling, at other times you really wonder what the message is that a few of these performers do not seem able to express in words nor feelings. These ups and downs kind of ruin the whole, so I could not say that I absolutely loved this performance, though I certainly liked a few of the things in it.

A very inspiring moment, on the other hand, was the talk by Davide Meghnagi intitled "The mystery of artistic creation". Mr. Meghnagi is professor at Università Roma Tre and teaches Clinical Psychology, Dynamic Psychology and Psychology. Through an interesting and passionate reconstruction of Freud's analysis of great masters such as Michelangelo and Leonardo, of his own feelings while admiring their works, he described the relationship of an author to his/her work and the final user, trying to identify what it is that makes all the subjects involved being alert and receptive.

I will try to follow next year's Torino Spiritualità more closely, let's see if I can.

Ben Cameron: The true power of the performing arts | Video on TED.com

Writing in English

I was recently confronted with the limits of my mother tongue. It’s a language everybody loves for its sound, for the richness of its cultural and literary past. People love it because it reminds them of the amazing food they had and the wonderful places they visited during their vacation. Yet, it’s a language that not many people talk.

During the 2^nd Writers’ and Literary Translators’ International Congress in Istanbul I met a lot of people from many different countries, and once I came back home I was hoping I could get to read a few of the things they had written. So I understood their disappointment when I had to tell them that everything I had was in Italian: translations, of course, but also other texts.

Furthermore, when I tried to pick a few of the things they were writing in Swedish in Facebook (lots of Swedish writers in Istanbul!), I felt very frustrated, because I could only partially figure out what they were talking about: I was quickly fed up with Google Translator and its deceptive (yet impressive, watch out, translators!) translations.  

So please bear with me while I try to write in English. It’s NOT my mother tongue. It’s not even the language I translate from, and still it’s the language everybody seems to be speaking right now in the world, so this is the language I chose to make myself understood. And even though it’s not perfect, it’s probably better than Google translator, for a few more years, at least.

Enjoy these thoughts, share your opinions with me and let’s make this a platform of exchange. Looking forward to seeing you here!