Since I was at school, I have always enjoyed working and exchanging ideas with other like-minded people. My need to share and create ongoing collaborations has kept developing through the years, so I decided to use my job to engage in activities that could be at the same time creative, sustainable and social.
Before I introduce you to the specific collaboration I wish to talk about in this post, I feel I ought to explain that it is probably the result of many other experiences I had, like for example my teaching activity in Palestine in an association helping people with disabilities due to the never ending war, where with the students we brought to life a project called “Wool Not Wall”, aimed at the creation of objects in felt, or the time I went to Kenya and taught painting in a village in the middle of a forest, or when I went to South Africa and brought children living in shanty towns to local art museums. My latest social experience abroad took place in 2022 in Morocco, where one day I was climbing some mountains with some local children and they were very impressed by my shoes, so when I returned to Italy I wrote to the manufacturing company Sportiva asking if they had old shoes they could give to these children. The company was so kind to provide me with lots of shoes that they weren’t selling, so I returned to Morocco again and donated them to the kids, who were so happy you can’t even imagine.
In Italy, during the Covid period I could not travel so I taught scultpure to young adults and adults with disabilities just outside Venice, and this too was an incredibly rewarding experience.
With this said, it happened that the request for my candles had grown and, as I am always engaged in several different activities, I realized I needed help to produce them in order to respond to the increased demand. Of course I wasn’t even considering to ask a factory, I strongly wanted to find someone in my city and this led me to the collaboration with the social cooperative called Malefatte, which works to help prisoners in the local jails learn new skills and develop new job opportunities once their sentence is over.
As you know, I named the candles inspired by the quadrefoils of the Doges Palace and the Ca’ d’Oro, Re-Light Venice, because the message they carry is to make Venice shine again with new light, after all that the city has been suffering due to mass tourism and also due to climate change. So I wrote to Malefatte asking if I could teach my art to some of the female prisoners of the Giudecca jail and bring some light to their darkness. The association embraced my project and gave me this incredible opportunity.
I started last year, I would go twice a week inside the prison where we have a little dedicated workshop, and worked with Ester, Faith and Vania. I don’t know how to describe this feeling, but it has been amazing. Of course, we have become friends and they shared their stories with me and there was a lot of emotion going on. I am extremely grateful because they have helped me not only in the production phase, but also in learning to see the world with new eyes.
I strongly believe that manual work brings people closer and it is so magical to be able to help others find a new path. I feel the need to underline that, yes I am helping them develop new skills, but it is them who have been helping me in many ways, practical and emotional. I had the fortune to witness special moments, as I was present the day one of them, after spending 7 long years in jail, was released. After a couple of months another one of them finally ended her sentence and now instead of seeing them in Giudecca, they come to my workshop in Cannaregio every Thursday, making me part of their job reintegration.
Sustainability for me is of the utmost importance and I think that being sustainable means not only using eco-friendly materials, but also developing lasting relations with local workers. So, when you choose to purchase one of my Re-Light candles, you too become part of this project and contribute to positive, sustainable and local work and craftsmanship.
Thank you for making our dreams come true.