On the morning of May 23, the author will meet the schools at the State Archives of Naples and, in the afternoon, he will be at the Fondazione Premio Napoli.
An original illustrated book for all ages that tells a story of education, pain and resilience in the Europe of the Belle Öpoque, marked by the First World War. A powerful book, inspired by the true story of the pianist Paul Wittgentstein (1887-1961): it is “Per mano” by Sante Bandirali (Uovonero, ill. by Gloria Tundo), among the winners of the VII edition of the project/prize Il mondo salvato dai ragazzini 2024, curated by the cultural association Kolibrì.
With Sante Bandirali and her illustrated book by Gloria Tundo Per mano (Uovonero) we enter the heart of a true and exemplary story of disturbing topicality. A book in which music and a disconcerting, eccentric and unusual point of view become the leitmotif of a complex and in some ways hard but open to hope story, which manages to speak to the youngest but also to readers of all ages about authoritarian fathers, the pain of living, war, wounds of the soul and (concrete) mutilations with elegant delicacy, streaked with poetry and reverberated by the suffused sepia chromatisms of the tables (created for the project curated by Uovonero during Ars in Fabula, Master in illustration for publishing) that evoke dreamlike old vintage photos. It is no coincidence that Sante Bandirali is one of the winners of the seventh edition of the project/prize The world saved by kids 2024, which focuses on an ethically sensitive theme for contemporary times: «Wounds, loopholes & fantastic escapes».
The writer, who will soon publish his first novel (Papiro, out May 29) with Marcos y Marcos, will talk about it on Thursday, May 23 in Naples, where he will be the protagonist and guest of honor of the fourth double appointment of "close encounters" with the winners of the Juvenilia award "The world saved by kids" 2024, conceived and curated by the Kolibrì cultural association (with the patronage of the Municipality of Naples, of which Kolibrì is an active part in the Local Pact for Reading) in partnership with national partners, including Andersen and Agita, with the support of BPER Banca.
The double meeting, entitled "Music as a way, therapy and life. A story of education and resilience in Belle Époque Europe" is scheduled for Thursday 23 May in the morning (from 10 to 12, for an interactive and workshop meeting with the educational communities in the Sala Catasti of the State Archives, "Casa delle Storie" led by Candida Carrino) and, at 17, at the headquarters of the Fondazione Premio Napoli in Palazzo Reale: where Bandirali will talk with the composer, director and teacher Paolo Coletta and with the public after the introduction by the president of Kolibrì Donatella Trotta and readings from the text by Agita Teatro, (free admission until seats are taken, info and reservations: kolibrinapoli@gmail.com).
After the power of the fantastic and the breath of the fairytale in the narration between words and images, addressed in the previous meetings of the project with Silvia Vecchini and Sualzo (authors of the graphic novel Le parole posso tutto, Il Castoro) and with Simone Saccucci (with his novel L'ultima ferita, EDT Giralangolo), and after the last appointment, on April 23, in the name of the magic of music with Francesca Bonafini (author of the coming-of-age novel La strada ti chiama, Sinnos), the fourth "close encounter with the author" with Sante Bandirali closes the second step of the original project/prize of Creative Reading Literacy, curated by Kolibrì, with new perspectives and points of view useful for soothing the wounds, visible and invisible, of adolescence and beyond: precious glances and visions to intercept dreams and needs of girls and boys immersed in a visible discomfort of civilization. Which from the "short century" arrives, amplified, to today. And after the summer break, the project The World Saved by Kids will continue at the beginning of the school year, with theater and music workshops in schools and with the final Festival and the final awards ceremony, scheduled from October 21st to 25th in Naples in the presence of all the authors, including collective educational restitutions, shows, exhibitions and meetings.
The book
The story told through words and images in By the Hand is set in Vienna, in the Austro-Hungarian Empire, at the beginning of the 900th century. Here the very rich and powerful Wittgenstein family is headed by father Karl, an authoritarian steel industrialist, who does not like the fact that some of his eight children feel the allure of art (like their sensitive mother Leopoldine, who hosts Brahms, Mahler, Clara Schumann, Bruno Walter at home) instead of following in his footsteps. Three of them will commit suicide. Brother Ludwig will become the famous philosopher. Paul, a left-handed and talented pianist, will have to overcome an obstacle greater than his father's narrow and oppressive views: the amputation of his right arm, lost in the war in 1914. His story of resilience, courage and revenge (narrated by the missing hand) begins again from there: from a Russian internment camp in Siberia. Until his successful return to the world's stages. With important musicians, such as Maurice Ravel, who will compose dedicated music, such as the concert for the left hand. About Per mano, Sante says: «I find it an exemplary story, which shows how often disability is created by the environment in which you live, by the barriers that prevent you from expressing yourself. If the environment is inclusive, if it is a concert for the left hand, then the disability disappears». And you notice the presence, not the absence.
The author
Sante Bandirali is an author, musician, publisher (co-founder and editorial director of the publishing house Uovonero, an independent label attentive to diversity since 2010, and of the brand new Officina Babùk). After studying at the School of Paleography and Musical Philology in Cremona, at the Conservatory and at the Luigi Bocconi Commercial University, he also became a translator, with about forty novels translated: including “The Mystery of the London Eye”, Andersen Prize 2012 and over 160 thousand copies sold. His translations have won numerous Italian awards, including the Andersen Prize, the Cento Children's Literature Prize and, in 2020, the Strega Ragazze e Ragazzi Prize for translation, with the novel Una per i Murphy by Lynda Mullaly Hunt. For Uovonero he is the author, in addition to Per mano, Quality Micropublishing Brand 2023, of the illustrated books Il signor Erik (dedicated to Satie and illustrated by Francesca Corso) and, from a fairy tale by Luigi Capuana, of L'uovo nero (ill. by Alicia Baladan). He has also published the collection of short stories EAN13 e altri disastri (Uroboros 2012) and for Marcos y Marcos he has Papiro coming out on May 29, it is his first novel.
Article published on May 16, 2024 - 12:49 pm
