We only have this life down here. We won’t have another, to love, to love ourselves, to commit ourselves and to be right here.

INTERVIEW WITH ROBERTA BELLESINI

Piedmontese and devoted to architecture, Roberta Bellesini is a reserved woman, perhaps less known than her famous husband (Giorgio Faletti).

He had confessed her his fear of oblivion.

She, in response, keeps him alive in her memories and in those of her fans, with the pride and tenderness that distinguish her.

She doesn’t only promote his works, but she continues to cultivate and hand down that passion for art and literature that had united them so much.

We wanted to know more and be inspired by her words.

- Good morning Roberta, tell us a little more about you, have you a particular quote that represents you?

"We only have this life down here. We won’t have another, to love, to love ourselves, to commit ourselves and to be right here".(Don Luigi Ciotti, during a meeting at the Astense Library, of which Roberta is president).

This is certainly a sentence in which I find myself a lot, at least for the commitment part (I don't dare to evaluate the results!).

Over the past 5 years I have often risked being overwhelmed by responsibilities: the presidency of the Library and its festivals, theatrical and cinematographic productions, construction sites ...

It had become almost an obsession to fill the agenda because every opportunity for growth, improvement, new ones knowledge and work experience, could not be left out. With the consequence of enjoying little or nothing of the events and circumstances.

So, recently, also thanks to the lockdown period, I reflected on the need to reduce or "dilute" commitments to savor the various experiences with the right timing.

As Don Ciotti says: “… to love each other”, it is necessary also take care of ourselves and the quality of our lives.

- You are an architect passionate about literature, can you tell us about these two passions and how they communicate between them?

I would like to specify that I have been working for many years in this area but I don't have a degree in architecture. I was lucky enough to collaborate with talented and innovative professionals who gave me important preparation and training for my subsequent choices.

This training allowed me to create my own company through which I carry out real estate projects with particular attention to new technologies and sustainable architecture.

Literature, on the other hand, is a passion that gave me my elementary school teacher. With the passing of the years it has grown through books and the desire to know the world.

The relationship with Giorgio, then, introduced me to the work hidden in a book. From the creative part to the consequent process (publishing house, editing, graphics, etc.): all a great experience!

In the end I believe that all the artistic activities are interconnected and they can always be inspired by each other.

- What are the most exciting parts of your activities?

The most stimulating part are the challenges, the new projects. When we work on planning a festival or we set ourselves new goals… I feel very creative! Even when I search and organize new collaborations with other professionals, organizations or associations, because I truly realize the power of the concept of “doing network".

Culture is a primary necessity. And education to the idea that art, culture and a sustainable quality of life can be part of our daily life it's a possible (and exciting!) process, if you use languages and spaces accessible to everyone.

- You always have a very nice look. Do you have a passion for Fashion and Made in Italy?

As a dynamic person, my style must be at first very practical, but also not trivial! Big brands names have never attracted me; I love the particularity of innovative brands, the creativity and skills of Italian entrepreneurs.

On the Elba Island, where I live part of the year, there are several small businesses (of watches, perfumes, accessories) that have conquered their beautiful space on the Italian and international scene.

These products are never missing in my wardrobes... as well as, in the last few years, the Nosetta bags! A Brand that I admire for the class, the functionality and the excellent quality of materials.

- As a worldly woman with an international lifestyle, what do you miss the most in this lockdown period?

Certainly, like many, I miss the human contact. The meetings, the so-called “creative brainstorms”, for example. This lack can be overcome through the various platforms but I think you can never recreate the same atmosphere you get when you all sit down physically around a table to design.

I miss the planning of events, the face-to-face meetings during which I see eyes and expressions… via web you only see numbers! This situation deprives me of emotion and does not provide me the right energy to work. I also miss traveling, for work or for pleasure, visit my friends overseas. Travelling has always been a fundamental part of my life.

- It is a special period, with more time available to cultivate one's interests. Would you like to give our readers some suggestions of interesting readings?

For example… Giorgio Faletti's best thriller?

I would like to recommend “Out of an obvious destiny" by Giorgio Faletti.

Set in the America of the Navajo reservations, it is an intense story in which two worlds try to find a balance and a third inscrutable element makes it all very complicated.
Then I would say "I kill", but it was such a success that it seems to me almost trivial to recommend it! 😊

- A book for the lockdown?

A book that I recommend in this period is: “Warehouse 18” by Simone Cristicchi and Jan Bernas.
Stories of great courage by Italians from Istria, Dalmatia and Fiume, which neither in their native land nor in Italy, their homeland, they found peace and meaning to their lives. It's a story they haven't told us enough, which deals with the importance of feeling part of a place and a culture. It is a story that reminds the dramatic eventswe are experiencing, which call us for proof of strength, unity and spirit of sacrifice to achieve a common goal.

 

- An idea for a Christmas gift?

As a Christmas gift, I recommend "Fresh Water for Flowers" by Valerìe Perrin.
"I have two wardrobes, the first one is called "Winter" and the other one "Summer", but the seasons do not matter, the circumstances do.
Winter wardrobe contains only classic clothes and dark suits intended for others, Summer wardrobe only light-colored clothes intended for myself.
I wear the summer under the winter, and when I am alone I take off the winter. "

This is a story that drags you elsewhere, forces you to look at things and events in a different way to change your points of view and discover that there is always a dawn.

- Do you want to add something, maybe a reflection of hope or a project that isparticularly close to your heart?

My hope is not to read other news like that of the bankruptcy of the Cirque du Soleil with 3500 layoffs due to the restrictions imposed by the pandemic.
Their shows are undoubtedly the most engaging and mind-blowing I have ever witnessed.
There is a very high risk that a lot of professionalism operating in the cultural and artistic fields fail to get back into business at the end of this pandemic.
When I hear the word "leisure" used in reference to culture and to art I get hives.
Culture is identity, it is growth.
I hope we all acquire awareness of its value right now that it is so precluded to us. And, above all, that we become aware that with culture lives a large part of the country, thanks to the induced that it determines. 

As for what concerns me directly, in the new year I hope to be able to bring back tothe theater the two shows I produced "The Last Day of the Sun" and “Four women”, both played by the talented Chiara Buratti.
Also I would like to finally see in cinemas the movie shot in November 2019 "Notes Of A Seller Of Women" based on the homonymous novel by Giorgio Faletti.
A work I care a lot about.

- Last question! The Nosetta bag that best reflects your personality?

I have two favorites as they are functional to different moments of the day. For the workplace I am very happy with the Celesia in cotton tweed, very practical and roomy for documents or tablet type devices. For leisure, I move a lot on foot, and It is congenial to me the Margherita, essential in its dimensions and comfortable for walking.

 

THANK YOU ROBERTA FOR THIS ENRICHING AND INSPIRING CHAT!