Giulia Alecci, Carla Passarelli, Virna Valli – Michele dice

T.essere is a group comprising Giulia Alecci, Carla Passarelli and Virna Valli. The group was formed one year after the death of Michele Tosi, lecturer on the ‘History of Artistic Techniques for Contemporary Mosaics’ course on the two-year specialisation programme at the Academy of Fine Arts in Ravenna, which the group’s members attended in 2015.
The work Michele dice is a tribute to the professor, arising almost spontaneously from memories of his lectures. These lectures were often an opportunity for Michele to utter, in his warm voice, the phrase ‘Mosaics are beautiful’. He would accompany the word ‘beautiful’ with a smile that could be sensed even with one’s eyes closed, conveying the sensation of savouring a mosaic with one’s taste buds.
With this clear, direct and simple phrase, he expressed his love for mosaics and warmed the hearts of those present.
On the occasion of this edition of the Mosaic Biennale, the work aims to bear witness to the sensitivity and spirit of a man and his passion, and to show how, if one looks not only with one’s eyes, one can discover all the beauty within a stone.
Curated by: Giulia Alecci, Carla Passarelli, Virna Valli