30 June 2025
“My involvement with the Meeting began when I was just a child,” says Maria Chiara, now a Master's student in Art History. “My parents used to take me with them, and I would spend entire days at the Kids’ Village.”
Then there was her father, who every summer, with quiet dedication, gave up his holidays to serve drinks at the fair. As a child, she couldn’t understand what could be beautiful about that kind of effort. But over time, seeing him return happier every year, she began to sense that something great was hidden behind those simple actions.
At sixteen, she said her first "yes": she signed up as a volunteer. “That summer I was in charge of cleaning tables in the food court. I remember the hard work, but also the joy we felt, and that of the people who thanked us after finding a clean table.”
It’s not an experience for your CV, nor an alternative vacation. It’s something that touches the heart and sets your path. Today Maria Chiara is among the young people who contribute every year to building the Meeting for Friendship Among Peoples, and her story is a reminder of why this event is a treasure worth supporting.
During her university years, she returned to Rimini as a volunteer, putting to use her passion for art. “Every year I’m fascinated by the exhibitions, especially those in the humanities. I applied to be a guide, convinced I was contributing to something that goes beyond mere dissemination: a proposal that invites you to reflect on why something fascinates or moves us.”
In 2023 she took part in the exhibition The Shape of Words, an experience that helped her resolve doubts about her future. “Being a guide gave me a unique chance to challenge myself in something I love. By the end of the week, I was full of gratitude: I had accompanied people in discovering something beautiful.”
That’s also what the Meeting is: a place where passions become tools for revealing a glimpse of truth to others. And truth takes the shape of beauty, especially when it is born from a free encounter.
“That one week was enough to restore my confidence and start my Master’s program with enthusiasm.” A year later she returned again, guiding visitors through the exhibition The Essential Is Visible to the Eyes: The World Tour of William Congdon. But it wasn’t just an artistic deep dive. “As preparation, I read the artist’s journals during a difficult time. Those pages introduced me to a friend... Congdon accompanied me through the struggle, bearing witness to the greatness of the mystery that saved him.”
In this way, the Meeting becomes a forge of life, a source of vocations, and a place of important decisions. “After that summer, I decided to dedicate my Master’s thesis to this artist. An unexpected richness born simply from saying ‘yes’ to the Meeting’s proposal.”
But what makes the Meeting powerful enough to change a life? For Maria Chiara, the answer lies in its deeply human nature: “I believe one of the strengths of the Meeting is the variety of its offerings – exhibitions, performances, talks, testimonies – all born from someone’s personal encounter with something extraordinary.”
“That’s why I believe the Meeting is a gift to the world: because it opens up the possibility of being moved in every realm of experience.”
Supporting the Meeting is not just an act of generosity: it’s a stand. It’s saying yes to a work that educates, builds, regenerates. A work where beauty takes shape in the simplest of gestures: “from the free act of someone cleaning a table, to an unexpected conversation between pavilions.”
Maria Chiara says it again with conviction: “Supporting the Meeting is essential. You can do it in many ways: by attending as a visitor, donating financially, or giving a week of your time as a volunteer.”
Because the Meeting is not just an event. It is a promise. A place where, every summer, a piece of a more human world is built – starting from a gaze full of gratitude.
