“A people that does not generate artists is a dead people. The artists featured in this first edition of "Artisti per il Meeting" are not only friends of the humble writer, but they are also individuals who, through various paths, are driven by the same experience of community that generates the Meeting. Art, for those who create it, is certainly a personal matter, but if this personal matter is not rooted in something greater than one's individuality, it will never have the possibility of being, as the great Ungaretti says of poetry, and it applies to every well-made work, "a unanimous cry," that is, a small or great treasure that gives voice to the soul that unites all people. The artists invited by the Meeting have made a gift of this treasure, so that the people of the Meeting, made up of people of all kinds but marked by the same attraction to a mysterious Presence, can transform this gift into another gift. Cunning marketing? It would be a miserable thing. No, it is the consideration that art lives not as a solitary gesture, as a rite for initiates, or as pure social illustration (as it is often reduced in even illustrious exhibitions today).

         Art lives in and for the mysterious circulation of life, it is a unique sign in the nature of human nature (along with forgiveness) that is, a sign of freedom. Artichokes and dolphins and algorithms do not make art, they do not freely dispose of their languages. They do not have our relationship with reality. For this reason, art is the field of true knowledge of the human and the world. The Meeting has always paid attention to the gestures of artists, with exhibitions, conferences, shows. Now it is as if, with an additional gesture, it recognizes that art participates directly in the construction of the Meeting, leveraging the gratuitousness with which a true artist gets to work whatever the outcome of the work itself, gratuitousness mixed with tears and effort, and which recalls the gratuitousness with which many volunteers get to work, at the top or at the bottom of the organization.

                         They are different artists, varied visionaries, but all aimed at giving shape not so much to the inner motions of the soul, but to focusing on what they see, and what others do not see. The invisible to many becomes visible in the sign of art. All important things, in fact, we humans know not directly but by signs - we grasp love, pain, friendship if we grasp their signs. These works are the fruit of the visible and invisible realities that these artists have encountered and that have had the strength to move the soul, mind, and heart.

         Art is an act of knowledge that is shared, rather than an act of expression that is exhibited. Authentic art is made by men striving to know the mystery of the world. Dante was like this, Michelangelo was like this, as were Luzi and Bacon. The Meeting is an act of shared knowledge. Art belongs to the same kind of movement. Therefore, it is not surprising if in the pavilions of this year's Meeting, and hopefully of the next ones, you will find, as in a true but popular "biennale" of art, not only exhibitions but also the works of these artists. Not only the recommended purchase, but also just a glance and a pause build the Meeting. And they mark a point of love for the gift of art.”

Davide Rondoni