I had a dream: Rome, Italy

This is the vision behind AtWork “I Had A Dream”. Conceived by the Moleskine Foundation and the writer Simon Njami, the travelling workshop engages communities in 4 different places; Rome, Italy; N’Djamena, Chad; Kampala, Uganda; with the final leg to take place in Harare, Zimbabwe in November 2018. Lively debate and open expression facilitate the safe environment necessary for critical thinking and creative doing. The four/five day workshops culminate in an exhibition of the artistic notebooks produced as metaphors of the process.As Simon Njami says, “We were born what we were born, but we always become what we did. In few words, I Had A Dream is a call to action, here and now.”

For centuries, Rome has been a melting pot of cultures, backgrounds and professions. So it’s no surprise that the Rome chapter of AtWork saw 17 participants of 9 different nationalities come together. Mechanical engineers, physicists and geologists joined artists and musicians in a lively discussion that explored culture, identity and society from a range of perspectives to discover and confront their true selves.

My notebook is about the dichotomy of women’s perception. The lightness and heaviness. The lightness of beauty as a mere physical appearance opposed to the heaviness of women’s struggle to affirm themselves for their inner self. This work aims at raising a critical debate on the roles of women in the society. This notebook is a tribute to all the women that made the difference, for which they deserve a space in art, media, and society.

My notebook is the first edition of my art magazine. In our first issue we cover TheArtist and feature never seen before content. These can only be revealed when I realise my dreams. There’s only one copy, as it is conceived as a collector’s item, of course.

My notebook expresses a concept of freedom and represents the exploration of one’s perso- nality which in order to reach a state of peace, needs to embark on a journey. On the cover, I built an incomplete puzzle that depicts my idea of complete freedom : a sky. Every thought expressed by the public will enrich the puzzle by adding the missing pieces. Skimming through the notebook, I can be free each day in a different way, through new inspirations and suggestions.

My notebook is a sample of waste materials and it demonstrates that, if well juxtaposed, they can be turned into interesting new textiles. Everyday we surround ourselves with more and more waste, to which none of us gives any value. The transparency of the pages allows the user the opportunity to observe these materials as if they were unique and

to perceive the infinite possibilities of interweaving.

My notebook wants to free ourselves from certain “garbage music”. So flush, using the book- mark, and improve the world’s oral hygiene! This notebook represents my dream to go to the barbers and instead of hearing interviews of football players, to hear Jimi Hendrix, Pink Floyd and Michel Petrucciani.

My notebook represents the world discovered by the author’s mind: a vigorous city which is about to fall apart. The 3-D printed Umarell man represents the person that is trying to figure out what is seen by his eyes. He stands patiently waiting for something coming...from the world...or from himself.

My notebook is a personalised and customisable tourist guide of my city. Everyone cancreate their own Bologna with their experiences, destinations and dishes, filling the emptypages as they wish. This is my Bologna, how is yours?

In my notebook, I decided to use well known symbols in Ghana to produce my artist catalog. The symbols I used are to represent myself, my culture, my life, my ups and downs and where I am trying to be in life.

My notebook titled “My piece of (h)eart(h)” comes from the will to defining an evolving identity and it materialises in a collection of other identities. It starts from the idea of mixing other cultural traditions to make a new one and it materialises in a (non-exhaustive) handbook contai- ning five unique traditions that cannot be mixed, but should be known and valorised. Dreaming is a work in progress.

My notebook shows what geology will tell about us, through the Anthropocene stratigraphic sequences of Mediterranean sea and their material and immaterial content. An archaeologi- cal/paleontological object, of a far away past and at the same time actual, found million years forward in time. This strata are our most objective mirror, back from the future to tell us something. All of us may read these pages of stone, that reassemble stories, emotions, and objects; our biography.

My notebook talks about a great mother, high and rocky - the mountain - who welcomes and embraces her people as the Madonna della Misericordia. In the highest part she touches the sky, where the feminine and masculine principles meet. Heilide Mutte is the name I chose for her, lady of the woods and waters, the places where I grew up. For her, I invented prayers and songs combining the zimber and latin language, imagining a funeral ritual celebrated while climbing to the peak.

What do you see? How far can irony go? How ironic can we be? Why are we ironic?

My notebook is a collection of screenplay and storyboard of the short-film shot during the 4 days of the AtWork workshop. In the short, the participants close their eyes, falling asleep to wake up inside their dreams.

In my notebook I’ve seen a land governed by enlightened leaders, firmly tight to the funda- mental principles of our constitution. Humans driven by superhuman moral values, coded to pursuit their purpose: to grant the blossoming of any being of the planet.

My notebook is a diary that includes the details of my personal journey. It aims to change the mind of young Africans that might want to undertake the journey to Europe through Libya.

A mini theatre, a window on my dream: travelling. Travelling is a way to know ourselves through different people and cultures. I got inspired by Prague, and by its theatrical tradition of puppetry and Wunderkammer. The main character is Pedrus Gonsalvus, famous man of the XVI century affected by an abnormal amount of hair growth. This Wunderkammer is my collection of animalia, naturalia and mineralia.