One of the key objectives of Love Difference in tour, an artistic and solidarity project curated by Fondazione Rosa dei Venti together with Fondazione Pistoletto, is to start fundraisers in disadvantaged areas lacking the resources to guarantee innovative and quality services for people in need. At the centre of the initiative is Michelangelo Pistoletto’s Mediterranean Table: “The work connects the north and south of our country in a journey that allows for the table to be lived and shared, thus facilitating dialogue” – explained the organisers*. An introspective and cultural process that relies on this emblematic installation: a large mirror table in the shape of the Mediterranean basin surrounded by chairs from the different countries overlooking this sea. A work by Pistoletto that represents the message and symbol of Love Difference.
Love Difference
“Love Difference is a name, a slogan, a declaration of aims. The movement combines the universality of art with the idea of political transnationality, and focuses on the Mediterranean in that it mirrors the problems of global society, – reads the Love Difference Manifesto, 2002, in ‘Journal 7’, Cittadellarte, Biella 2002, p. 47 – on one hand the difference between ethnic groups, religions and cultures is the cause of terrible conflicts; on the other, the supremacy of powers, which is leading to uniformity and the erasure of differences, has led to a dramatic situation (…) Uniformity and difference are the two opposing terms that represent the maximum conflicting tension in the current world situation. A politics which leads people to ‘love differences’ is vital for the development of new prospects throughout the social domain”. Love Difference – Artistic Movement for an InterMediterranean Politics was launched at Cittadellarte in Biella in the spring of 2002 as a project of its Politics Office, with the aim of gathering around the regions bordering the Mediterranean Sea people and institutions interested in creating new perspectives leading beyond the tragic conflict between cultural diversities.
The stops
As a non-profit organisation of social utility and rehabilitative therapeutic community operating in residential and home care offering assistance to adolescents and minors suffering from personality disorders, Fondazione Rosa dei Venti – in the figure of its president Luca Mingarelli – has identified in Pistoletto’s work the key to give shape to the project. The Mediterranean Table made its first trip from Noto to Villa Olmo, in Como, where it remained from 27th April to 26th May. On this occasion, Fondazione Rosa dei Venti proposed the temporary exhibition Ar(t)resti Domiciliari, Contagio Leale, the result of a project conceived by Enrico Cazzaniga and involving seven artists and their travelling companions, who wanted to express themselves in times of forced imprisonment imposed by the pandemic. The work is currently located in the Mirasole Abbey in Opera di Milano – thanks to the collaboration with Fondazione Progetto Arca and Impresa Mirasole – where it is due to stay until mid-September. The next stop in the programme, on dates yet to be defined, will be Ivrea and the former Olivetti factory, in collaboration with the Dream Foundation Committee, which will organise cultural and dialogue activities around the Mediterranean Table.
The proposal of Rosa dei Venti
The foundation also offers institutions and individuals the opportunity to have the artwork on loan for a certain period of time, even for a single day: the Mediterranean Table can be requested for events in streaming or in presence (in compliance with the regulations for the containment of the pandemic); for the planning and staging of events giving visibility to the companies supporting the project; and to be used by nationally and internationally renowned speakers, by universities and by artists, actors, comedians, sportsmen and educators. In addition, Fondazione Rosa dei Venti, Impresa Sociale Mirasole and the non-profit organisation Fondazione Progetto Arca will be responsible for promoting the sponsoring companies through their respective contacts and social network channels. Not only that, the Love Difference Table will also be available for photo shoots and videos. By joining the initiative, you can contribute to supporting the social activities of the non-profit organisations involved.
The testimony of Elisa Mingarelli
We talked with Elisa Mingarelli, Fondazione Rosa dei Venti’s Head of Projects and Communication, who stressed the impact the work had at Villa Olmo: “In the wonderful location overlooking the lake, the Mediterranean Table was the setting for moments of great importance. For example, that’s where the staff of our association met with other organisations to illustrate the services offered by the foundation. Everything happened very informally: the work meant that conversations between people were more intimate, different from usual”. The work was also at the centre of numerous events at the Mirasole Abbey, such as Fondazione Rosa dei Venti’s meeting of its board of directors or the event Symposium – Beyond architectural and cultural barriers, models of cities and sustainable environments for the future, which saw the participation of Michelangelo Pistoletto himself. “It was a great fortune – said Mingarelli – to have the artist from Biella present. He gave a speech on cultural dialogue, and inspired and initiated multi-thematic discussions with other speakers, representatives of the most diverse areas of expertise like architecture, politics, art and social issues”. What did Pistoletto’s work represent and what artistic and social value did it have at the various stops of its journey? “It is a special table – Mingarelli observed – we just need to look at its particular shape, which recalls ‘overturned borders’. But it is still a table that maintains its primary function of hosting people. The work also represents an opportunity for truthful exchange, different from the digital one we have been used to lately”. Mingarelli then outlined the role played by the work so far: “I noticed that the Mediterranean Table has stimulated creative desire and offered inputs to carry out concrete actions among those who sat down to talk. It was also curious to note the care that each person reserved in choosing the chair of the work to sit on, – she concluded – the seat option, in addition to arousing curiosity, in some way told about the subject who had chosen it”.
