November 9th, 1989: fall of the Berlin Wall. Today, some of its fragments come to life in Unwalled, a cultural and artistic project that recalls the historical significance of the event and the strong message of peace and unity among people. The idea came from two people from Pavia who together decided to break down barriers, discrimination and segregation with chisels, brushes and ideas: they are Nicola Tilli, a lawyer and founder of the Nova Studia network of law firms, and Fabio Tassi, an artist who has already won international awards. Avangarde Group, which has always worked with a view to accessibility against all forms of division, is also a spokesperson for this universal message of inclusion and participates in the initiative as one of its main commercial partners. So, Pavia like Berlin.
Unwalled is a variegated and wide-ranging project that aims to disseminate topics of social interest and to educate, especially young people, in empathy. How? Through a website and a blog where experiences and points of view can be shared (strictly in English), a collection of 16 short stories for ExCogita's Giallo Milanese series, but above all thanks to the sculpture-picture installation by the artist Tassi.
The work of art was unveiled on November 25th at the Tolcinasco Castle on the outskirts of Milan and left everyone stunned, first of all because of its large size: 1.20 metres square base, 2.53 metres high and a weight of almost 300 kg. It is the result of the assembly of seven separate parts and represents a wall being destroyed, just as barriers between human beings should be destroyed. But the real peculiarity of the work lies in the details: it is partly composed of original pieces of the Berlin Wall and the barbwire that framed it, relics collected personally by Tilli in July 1990 after the famous concert "The Wall" by Roger Waters and his band Pink Floyd.
The idea is to give life to a fluid and multiform entity through the use of all the so-called "4 Arts": painting, sculpture, photography and poetry. In fact, the work is embellished with vintage images worked on by the artist and a few catchphrases written on the pedestal in three languages. The goal is to tour it as much as possible in Italy and around the world, especially in schools, to concretely show an important page of history. This is why it has been designed in modules: to be disassembled and allow it to be moved with ease.
«We at Avangarde Group also want to be part of this new cultural motion and thus spread effective messages of inclusion,» explained Stefano Mantovani, the Group's CEO. «Because it's spontaneous participation in projects like this that leads to real social change, with the help of the most effective tools for dialogue, sharing, listening and good communication. All distinctive values of Avangarde.»
At first, the work can be admired in the conference room of the Pavia City Hall, but in the future it will occupy exhibition spaces in various Italian and foreign galleries and will be presented in various television broadcasts on Italia 7 and SkyTG24. In any case, there will be other opportunities to actively contribute to the cause. In fact, the main objective of the project is to bring people together, and for this reason, initiatives with a social impact will be organised, as well as historical, literary and artistic events. The Unwalled brand is truly an all-round cultural development project.
We talked about it in further detail with lawyer Tilli, the first promoter of the project, who revealed some curiosities and background.
- When and how did the idea for Unwalled start? Unwalled was born as a sharing project against all discrimination, symbolically born from some pieces of the Berlin Wall that I personally found.
- What made you choose Tassi as the artist for the work? He is a Pavia native like me and I believe very much in our territory. But not only this territorial aspect is important. Tassi treats the material in a very convincing way. He does complex works, placing them in a high artistic context.
- How important was Pavia and the partnership of local entities such as Avangarde in the development of the project? They were both very important, the Municipality of Pavia and all the institutions. Avangarde Group completed this synergy. Together they gave me the opportunity to express myself at my best. Moreover, the Group's CEO, Stefano Mantovani, is a close friend of mine.
- What do you see in the future for Unwalled: how do you think it will evolve and what benefits do you think it will bring to society? Unwalled will be a pool of surprises, an articulated and fluid project involving the initial exhibition of the work and then a cultural project on these issues, and also a literary project.
Who are the protagonists of Unwalled? Watch the video and meet the creators Nicola Tilli and Fabio Tassi: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=BaCI4x4ylWw
