Ivrea Carnival: «Our party is fantasy. Let’s create something new “

Eugenio Pacchioli drew and painted the city and its manifestation. Since 2003 he has been making the panels of the chariot The Emperors, sold at a charity auction

IVREA. Eugenio Pacchioli, an Ivorian artist of Roman origins (he was born in the capital in 1941) is among the large group of those who see the “non-Carnival 2022” as a missed opportunity: “Surely we all find ourselves faced with an anomalous situation, on this there are doubts and we know it well, but I believe that there is a need to create something that make up for the lack of this moment so significant for all of us. I admit that I do not have a recipe and I do not allow myself to make proposals, however … I think it would be nice, if not necessary, for everyone to commit themselves to give life to something meaningful, which is not just a cry or a brooding on memory: the Carnival is fantasy and fantasy should produce something inspired by the event. Something that, in the double respect of the regulations of the moment and of the carnival tradition, brings a breath of fresh air, something extra, which makes us breathe the atmosphere of the party anyway ».

Pacchioli does not make any proposals, but last year he gave a significant example: in collaboration with the nursery school of Sant’Antonio, he created a workshop aimed at young students, without ever meeting them in person, precisely because of the limits imposed by the pandemic. : «I had entrusted to the teachers about forty of my drawings which, displayed on the walls of the school, allowed the little ones to immerse themselves in the atmosphere of the Carnival depicted in those works. The results were amazing, because the drawings made by the children were extraordinary. And I keep one with care, their thanks to this artist who, despite being 75 years older than them, has shared a piece of their path. A thank you that I see addressed not so much to me as a person, but to someone who has had their attention in a certainly particular period. A reinterpretation of that relational aspect has always been a cornerstone of the Ivrea Carnival, which allows to break down the barriers of age, personal experience, wealth ».

On a personal basis, Eugenio Pacchioli did not suffer from a crisis of creativity, due to the pandemic period or the absence of the Carnival: “In recent months I have dedicated myself to a new project, 99 works, paintings and collages, which I have brought together under the title “Cunti Eporediesi”, that is, Ivrea stories. The themes are the most varied, but all are set in a more or less recognizable Ivrea context. There is the Borghetto, there is the Dora, there are the landscapes and the Carnival: I used Ivrea and its peculiarities to give life to 99 stories. It is the demonstration of how rich in ideas our territory is, which has allowed me to range well beyond the borders of Ivrea, with works that have connections and extensions to the world, philosophical, personal reflection or imaginative story. It is a wealth that we often risk losing sight of ».

Pacchioli’s appeal is not to give up in the face of lack, but to strive to make it a source of inspiration. Exercise that in Ivrea we are not used to doing: «This is demonstrated by the mourning, never elaborated for the disappearance of Olivetti, and in these two years it is demonstrated by the inability to revisit the“ Carnival that does not exist ”in a creative way. When something ends, let’s get busy, let’s invent something new! ».

E for the future? Since 2003 Eugenio Pacchioli has been making the panels of the cast chariot of the Emperors, the hope is that Carnival and battle can return, to properly celebrate the twentieth anniversary of this relationship that has given artistic, carnivalesque and supportive fruits: all the panels have been ” auctioned off ”and the proceeds donated to charity.