Inauguration 28 May, 6.30 pm
Spazio Fontana - Palazzo delle Esposizioni

Was there anything BEFORE ME?

BEFORE ME everyone existed.

Everyone I know.

The sea existed, and trees existed and so did ice cream.

They're still there.

So am I.

BEFORE ME leads us on a fascinating journey through words and images, a poetic voyage that answers a crucial question:  Where was I when I wasn't there?  What was I?

A  book and an exhibition explore and probe the inner workings of children's questions in a journey that directly involves grown-ups' childhood memories as well.

In the book, published by Topipittori, Luisa Mattia's text develops a series of questions and potential answers, pauses and thoughts merely hinted at, in a crescendo of growing awareness that finds its natural completion and identity in the plates produced by Francesca Crisafulli and Carlo Nannetti, alias Mook.

Simple shapes return over and over again on the pages, breaking up and re-forming to create new images, right up to the moment of birth.  Whether we are talking about a human being, an animal or a work of art, the story that we are telling is basically the story of the way in which a creative process develops. 

The exhibition, curated by Mook and the Palazzo delle Esposizioni and 's Art Workshop, which has always shown a special interest in international art publishing for children thanks to the collection on its Art Bookshelf, comprises twenty original plates from the book, twelve sculptures specially made for the exhibition using wood and waste materials, and twenty wood-cut proofs reviewing the artists' creative processes and development.

A full schedule of workshops accompanies the event to allow the young and the less young alike to play with printing and composing images by combining shapes and colours in different ways.

Luisa Mattia was born and lives in Rome.  After pursuing a career in education for many years, she turned to literature for children and has since published numerous novels.  Her greatest successes include La scelta (Pippi Awardwinner 2006), I jeans di Garibaldi and Ti chiami Lupo Gentile.  She won the Andersen prize for "best female writer" in 2008.

Mook was set up in 2000 as the result of a project developed by Carlo Nannetti and Francesca Crisafulli who both live and work in Rome. It creates and produces objects using waste materials:  unique items resulting from the collection and assembly of material "dumped by time".  Mook's spheres of activity range from sculpture and graphic art to illustration, design and workshops for children.

Exhibition information

admission free
the exhibition is open during standard Palazzo delle Esposizioni opening hours