Vibrant, intense, touching, reflective. Yesterday, a cultural and emotional wave swept through the people present at the inauguration of the third edition of Fashion for Planet Open Parliament, held in Palazzo Giureconsulti’s Sala Parlamentino. The event, organised during the Milan Fashion Week by Cittadellarte Fashion B.E.S.T. and the National Chamber of Italian Fashion with the collaboration of GARN – Global Alliance for the Rights of Nature and Accademia Unidee, gave voice to the rights of nature through an artistic language: in a fusion of nature’s sounds and human voices, the event invited active participation and reflection on how fashion can become an artistic expression to promote a profound dialogue with the planet and nature itself. This introspective and empowering process was mainly shaped by the immersive installation entitled La natura in parlamento (Nature in Parliament), curated by the Guardini Ciuffreda Studio, which was the active backdrop to a live performance by actress Anna Favella. The performance followed a series of introductory speeches that led those present to discover the day’s behind-the-scenes and objectives, in a meandering alternating of reflections between different generations and professions. The event was proposed under the sign of continuity, in a relevant design evolution: as reported in a previous article, it was organised after the success of the previous editions of 23 February (more information by clicking here) and of 20 September 2023 (all details in a previous article).
The context
The event took place a stone’s throw from Milan Cathedral, in the city’s oldest conference centre: Palazzo Giureconsulti, for 400 years at the centre of the social, economic and cultural life of the Lombard capital. Yesterday, it was once again an exceptional setting, becoming an iconic backdrop for the speeches and the performance. Those entering the Sala Parlamentino had the impression of immersing themselves in a bubble outside time and space. The dreary, grey Milanese day, with a faint intermittent rain, seemed to echo far away from this room rich in history and cultural charm. It was enough to observe the expressions of those who entered the room: curiosity, astonishment, amazement. In seconds, the lights, sounds, voices and installation catapulted them into another world: that of nature, sustainability, proposal, responsible change.
The speakers. Credits: Journal’s editorial team
Anna Favella.
Paola Arosio, between sustainability and new generations
The curtain lifted on the speech by Paola Arosio (Head of New Brands & Sustainability Projects of the National Chamber of Italian Fashion), who began by introducing the role of Palazzo Giureconsulti: “During Fashion Week, it becomes our headquarters, giving space to young creativity: the Palazzo is in fact reserved for new talents, to those who struggle more than others to make a name for themselves in the fashion world. Yet the new generations often have a high creative content: here they can tell their stories, network and meet the insiders. Our mission is precisely to support them and accompany them in their growth”. Arosio went on to emphasise the ethical aspect: “Over the years, this hub dedicated to young creativity has become increasingly linked to sustainability issues: in many entrepreneurial paths of new brands, in fact, it is already an intrinsic key theme. We call these promising young talents, who come from all over the world, designers for planet”. Her speech concluded by thanking the Pistoletto Foundation: “We met Michelangelo Pistoletto and Cittadellarte at the beginning of our journey. We are proud to be here together again creating new paths, as with the third edition of Fashion for Planet. We are grateful to the Pistoletto Foundation and want to continue joining forces with them”.
Paola Arosio.
Paolo Naldini and the rights of nature
Paola Arosio was followed by the director of Cittadellarte Paolo Naldini, who started by recalling the Asilomar conference on recombinant DNA, organised in 1975 by biochemists Paul Berg, Maxine Singer and other colleagues to discuss the potential biological risks and the need for regulation of biotechnology. “In California,” he began, “nascent gene therapy scientists from around the world gathered because they had developed the technology to change human DNA. They met in a context like we have today, which is a parliamentary space in which decisions are taken. They came out of that parliament with a regulation that was already valid for the scientific community they represented, but was not yet valid for governments and global society. Over time it became so. Those ideas born in that small parliament away from the media have indeed spread and reached the global population; thus, parliaments around the world have had to deal with them and start using the guidelines written in Asilomar. This example is an extraordinary precedent for dealing with the complex issues that overwhelm us. It is necessary to ‘become a parliament’ so that those who practice become government”. The director of Cittadellarte then focused on the subject of the rights of nature: “They were assumed for the first time in 2009, in Latin America. No constitution had ever done this! It means that rivers, mountains and forests become bearers of personal rights. Jurists wondered how to give rights to something that could not represent itself in a courtroom. The problem does not exist: it is the same for the unborn, that is, something that must be born, like nature. From there, a worldwide movement of thought began that managed to bring two harlequin frogs to court over a deforestation lawsuit in the Amazon rainforest, because they had a right to a healthy ecosystem. The activists intervened in court on behalf of the frogs”. Naldini finally proposed a parallelism (“The two episodes I mentioned show that we are facing unexplored issues. This is where artists can play a role, travelling into the unknown with their ability to create the world”) and concluded with a nod to CNMI and GARN: “The collaboration with the National Chamber of Italian Fashion has opened up on an avant-garde front, 100 years after the historical avant-gardes. We have called on the world representatives of this movement, the Global Alliance for the Rights of Nature, and together with them we have established parliamentary acts of a civil society that is capable of asking questions and questioning its own role. For us, it is a fascinating adventure. We do not know where it will take us, but we know that we are going there together: this is already a significant achievement”.
Paolo Naldini.
From Michelangelo Pistoletto to an Accademia Unidee student
Cittadellarte’s director’s speech was followed by the projection of a video of the artist: “Fashion, the central element that brings nature and artifice together, means creating by putting these two elements together. These are the two elements that constitute us as human beings,” said Michelangelo Pistoletto, “we have created an artificial world, blown out of all proportions, which must be reconnected to the natural world”. In a relay between generations, it was then Melek Bacha’s turn to speak: “I have been attending the three-year course in sustainable fashion at Accademia Unidee since November. Although I am only in my first year of study, I have already delved very deeply into the subject. I have realised that we can use nature to our advantage without abusing it. In particular, I think transparency is important; unfortunately few brands pay attention to this aspect. We must protect nature in the present for the future to come,” she emphasised, “taking past mistakes into account. Clothes should be handed down from generation to generation, even transformed; we must take care of nature as well as of garments”.
Il video-intervento di Michelangelo Pistoletto.
Melek Bacha.
Rosita Celentano and our daily actions
Rosita Celentano also spoke on the occasion. The actress and TV and radio presenter shared a personal letter on social responsibility: “Let us try to bring sensitivity to people and return to walking and looking kindly at nature; empathy could save our lives. No more blaming others for what happens to us, no more victimisation: we are victims of ourselves, everyone is the author of their own destiny. Let us take the health of our planet into our own hands. Every single action creates a reaction,” she explained, “we do political acts every day. If, for example, we buy products with less plastic or food that doesn’t come from intensive farming, action can be taken on a larger scale. Every problem brings a solution with it: just shift your gaze because every wound is an opportunity for evolution. The secret to being happy is to go to sleep at night knowing that you have done something right”. Celentano then turned to a possible apocalyptic perspective: “We must not waste time, because we will be the ones to become extinct. It is not true that the world will end: the plants will live and the planet will return to a state of equilibrium. During the pandemic, it took only three months for us to return to breathing clean air in Milan, simply by keeping still. In short,” she concluded, “we all have a conscience but we don’t always decide to listen to it”.
Rosita Celentano.
Tiziano Guardini and Luigi Ciuffreda. Credits: Journal’s editorial team
The end of the activities
It was then time for Anna Favella’s performance, staged against the backdrop of the immersive installation La natura in parlamento by Tiziano Guardini and Luigi Ciuffreda. The actress, in a whirlwind of emotions, gave voice to the rights of nature in a theatrical narrative, also reciting parts of the speeches of guests from previous editions of the Fashion for Planet Open Parliament. The inauguration ended with a few closing words by Paolo Naldini, who dedicated a thought to CNMI, GARN, Guardini and Ciuffreda, Favella and all the day’s speakers, and to Cittadellarte’s Fashion Office: “I express my deepest thanks to Olga Pirazzi, the queen of sustainable fashion at Cittadellarte, and to her assistant Rebecca Mazzu“. The installation remained accessible throughout the afternoon. As a result, about 500 people passed through the Sala Parlamentino to listen to nature. This is how rebirth begins.
