“Shortly before the anesthesia they left me alone in a room. I was looking at a green wall with white and green marks on it. That is the exact moment when I felt again, after years, the need to paint.”
Barbara Amadori he is not yet 40 years old and comes from the Academy of Fine Arts in Urbino, where he studied painting and contemporary visual arts. He is from Gualdo Tadino, another town in the beautiful Umbria. And here, in May, the Casa Cajani Museum will host the collective exhibition Art as Care: an idea – or would it be more correct to say a need – born inside a hospital in 2019, after the diagnosis of breast cancer and four interventions that ‘have profoundly changed, even as an artist, as he tells us in the Health Breast newsletter.
The newsletter – how to register
Two long and difficult years have passed from the idea to the realization of the project, with the pandemic in between. Thanks to the support of the “Altotevere contro la cancer” association and with the help of the curators In Theodori e Roberto Vecchiarelli, Barbara called with her fifteen artists. Painting, photography, installations, sculpture, embroidery, design: no expressive means excluded. And by her side he was always there Luciano Carlithe surgeon who supported her, also from a human and artistic point of view, throughout the course.
“Art as a cure”, 16 artists represent breast cancer
Paintings, sculptures, photographs, installations, embroidery, design objects. The project to create a collective exhibition was born from the experience of the young Umbrian artist Barbara Amadori. A difficult path, which gave rise to an unexpected creative lymph, and which led her to think about art as a means of expression capable of alleviating suffering. The exhibition “Art as a cure” was inaugurated in Città di Castello and will return to the Casa Cajani Museum in Gualdo Tadino (in Umbria) from 7 to 29 May. It is curated by Nello Teodori and Roberto Vecchiarelli. The artists are: Barbara Amadori, Catia Ceccacci, Chiara De Megni, Martina Donnini, Giulia Filippi, Wilma Lok, Ilaria Margutti, Donatella Marinucci, Lidia Nizzo, Barbara Novelli, Elisa Pietrelli, Virginia Ryan, Isabella Sannipoli, Meri Tancredi, Maddalena V Advantages, Rita Vitali Rosati. The project is realized thanks to the support of the Altotevere Association against cancer. The catalog is published by Magonza Editore. In this gallery, we present some of the works.
A “patron” doctor
The project, says Barbara, owes a lot to the sensitivity towards the art of that doctor. “A relationship of empathy was immediately established with him that allowed me to share a lot: the emotional breakdowns I hid from others, the uncertainties, the fears, but also my passion for art. In moments of greatest tension, before the interventions, I found myself talking about works and writings … talks mixed with those about cancer. Thanks to him I discovered the existence of works related to this disease, which I did not know. And he gave me the input to start over to create “. Six jobs were born from that experience, all related to hospital and breast cancer.
The time of diagnosis
As is almost always the case, the diagnosis of cancer had come completely unexpected. Barbara was 37 years old and had no suspicion of what she was going to face shortly thereafter. Her twin sister wanted to start checking her health and got her involved. These also included breast ultrasound and mammography. If it was up to her, she wouldn’t have taken these exams, but since there was …
In his mind, the possibility that they might reveal “something” was not contemplated. “I probably owe my life to my sister, because who knows when I would have discovered the tumor”, she says: “I decided to stay in Umbria and to be treated in Città di Castello, because I had found an absolute humanity and kindness that gave me supported. I had faith in the health personnel and I trusted myself. “
An unexpected creative lymph
Apparently Barbara had reacted with determination and strength but in reality, she says, she had withdrawn very much in herself. Writing, painting, photography and sculpture were those escape routes that allowed her to externalize what she felt. “There was an unexpected creative lymph. I began by drawing on a notebook what I saw in the hospital: details of the room, floors, walls, or what was outside the window. Looking back at it now, it seems to me as if in those moments I had sought beauty. There is no reference to suffering. Then, unable to paint because of the drainage, I took a roll of paper from the old crates and began to write, mixing my thoughts with the phrases of the nurses, of the doctors , of the roommates I picked up, halfway between a stream of consciousness and a tape recorder “.
One of the works that followed comes to life precisely from the three suspension points of writing. “They turned into circles on a wall, filled with sky. Constellations like people. Looking at them gives me a sense of disorientation, the same as I felt when I received the news of the tumor. I felt like a teenager looking towards up and feels that she is small in the infinite “.
The birth of the collective and the realization of the exhibition
At that point he contacted the other artists to start creating the collective exhibition. “I already knew them and I really appreciate their work. They proved incredibly receptive. They listened to my story and fully understood the project. Together, I believe that we were able to deal with this subject in depth and from different points of view, without falling into rhetoric and heaviness. We unexpectedly sent a positive message. “
In recent days, the exhibition debuted in Città di Castello and some of the visitors found themselves sharing their path of illness. “One of them told me that it is clear that the project was born in the hospital”, Barbara tells us: “Through art, there has been a change in relationships. People have grasped the truth and experience behind the works. . Art as a cure and as a language. It was our goal. Pascoli wrote the reason why … Because pain is more pain, if it is silent “.
Information on the exhibition
The “Art as Care” exhibition will be at the Casa Cajani Museum from 7 to 29 May, with the patronage of the Municipality and the Gualdo Tadino Museum Complex. The catalog is published by Magonza Editore. The artists who exhibit their works are: Barbara Amadori, Catia Ceccacci, Chiara De Megni, Martina Donnini, Giulia Filippi, Wilma Lok, Ilaria Margutti, Donatella Marinucci, Lidia Nizzo, Barbara Novelli, Elisa Pietrelli, Virginia Ryan, Isabella Sannipoli, Meri Tancredi, Maddalena Advantages, Rita Vitali Rosati.