Màt : La Settimana della Salute Mentale
A week dedicated to mental health awareness
A few years back, I was working at the Royal Bank of Canada in Corporate Sponsorship when they had won the bid to be the official bank sponsors of the Olympic Games that were going to be held in Vancouver. I’m sure I signed all kinds of non-disclosure agreements so I don’t actually know what I can write about that experience.
My job was to write the rejection letters to all of the community initiatives that were writing to the bank asking for money to sponsor their various events. Yes, I was HIRED to do this. At one point, I remember reading a very interesting proposal that happened to mention some pretty interesting facts. Without getting too much into detail (again I hope no one goes and pulls out the NDA that I signed), I remember (vaguely) the statistic that one of the most important health issues affecting workers in North America, and thus productivity, was MENTAL HEALTH ISSUES.
Think about how many people in your life right now are on anti depressants, how many people go see a phychologist, how many people suffer from stress related issues – lots. I guess it’s important to remember that mental health issues can affect anyone.
At the time in Toronto NO corporation was funding, in a significant way, mental health initiatives. It was the unpopular kid in the class of “causes”.
So, think about my shock, when I learned that in Modena there is a whole week of programming, events, talks, exhibits, films, readings and presentations dedicated to creating mental health awareness. It’s called Màt Settimana della Salute Mentale, “Màt Mental Health Week”.
Modena, is like light-years ahead of Toronto! They inaugurated the week on October 10th so that it coincided with Global Mental Health Awareness Day, and there were so many events, that the “week” lasted until the last week of October.
So, a while back, my horoscope highly recommended I get out of the house and be seen, so we headed out into the city centre for an evening of adventure (I wrote about it here). On this particular occasion, I had the pleasure of catching up with a friend who is a psychologist that works with a community of women that have substance abuse issues. We were out on this nice patio having a drink and she introduced me to her friend who is a dancer, performer, acrobat and artist. Turns out the two of them were working on a collaboration for the Màt Mental Health Week and they invited me to come see it.
Ex- Lavatoio Comunale – Vignola
There isn’t a week that goes by that this country doesn’t astonish me. There is always something new and extraordinary to discover. I did end up going to see their collaboration for the Mental Health Week, it was being held in Vignola. Vignola is about 20 minutes away from Modena and is home to the most delicious cherries I have ever tasted in my life and the home to this amazing cake called “Torta Barozzi” which is a coffee, chocolate, deep dish brownie cake named after the Renaissance architect Jacopo Barozzi.
The event was held in the Ex-Lavatoio, meaning the ex-washing house, where they would have washed sheets and clothes by hand before the days of wash boards and obviously before the time of washing machines. Look at what a great atmosphere this place has (and notice the castle in some of the pics in the background).
At the event there was also a late night organic market, and you could buy treats and things….so of course I did. I got a piece of imitation Torta Barozzi. It is imitation, because the only real Torta Barozzi is made from a bakery called Gollini (I have a whole post coming up about this ….warning it WILL make you gain 1 kilo). Remember, when I mentioned that Italian’s get really touchy if you try to copy their thing, well EVEN this cake is copywritten!
Here are some pics from the market and the Ex Lavatoio.
At some point I bought a liter of real grape juice. Not watered down grape juice, I’m talking about a whole barrel of grapes, crushed to make a liter. The man who sold it to me pretty much told me NOT to drink it unless I wanted diarrhea and that I should water it down. This is my face just after I bought it….I’m thinking “I should have saved those 5 euros”.
Sussurrate Visioni – “Whispered Views”
So let me tell you about the event. I had to call and book an appointment. My appointment to enter was at 8pm and as usual we were late because we stopped and had dinner on the road at a new Arepas place. BUT, by some miracle, we managed to arrive at 7:59. Perfect I thought. But I was wrong. I ended up “going in” at around 10:30 pm! I guess that was their strategy to get people to spend money at the organic market.
All I have to say is waiting for 2.5 hours with a husband that would rather be at home in pjs and a restless, energetic toddler who loves running around, when you FINALLY decided that’d you’d wear heels out is a VERY long 2.5 hours. Especially when those heels are higher than you remembered and you can hardly walk in them let alone chase toddlers in them. It’s a good thing the wait was worth it.
I studied performance art in University, but we’ll save those conversations for another day. But let’s just say that I am quite well versed in “alternative” art experiences…….aka I’ve been naked in a children’s sandbox filled with rice, I’ve been covered in more body paint than you can find at your local craft shop and I’ve shaved my legs while being dressed as a clown while PERFECTLY SOBER.
So I was expecting the worst. I was expecting something amateur and mediocre. I was expecting something ….I don’t know….. “Italian”. Not quite up to par with all of my North American experiences. And boy was I wrong.
The event was called Whispered Views, and it was a collaboration between Nicoletta Giberti (Director and Artistic Direction), Alberto Nanni (Sound Artist), Elena Annovi (Performer, Acrobat and Artist) and the women that my psychologist friend is working with at the therapeutic program “LAG”.
By the time they called me for my turn to enter I was tired and my feet hurt (heels + toddler + no chairs around).
I waited outside of a door. The door slowly opened and it was pitch black inside. I slowly stepped in thinking (really? Of all the friggin’ nights to decide to wear heels). Someone touched my arm. It was so black inside that I couldn’t see ANYTHING, not even their face, but I could tell she was a woman because of how gentle her touch was.
Trust.
It is amazing how intimate you can become with a total stranger when you find yourself in a pitch black room in heels unable to take a step forward, I was at her mercy. Then I heard a whisper. It got closer. Headphones. She put a soft, round pair of headphones over my ears and I heard the sound of a woman speaking.
And then, my mysterious guide, gently held my arm and began to walk with me. We stopped, and we were still and I listened to the woman on the headphones tell me about her thoughts. About how her daughter was taken from her by child services and how she couldn’t wait for her to be 18 years old so she could have her back again.
And my mystery guide finally turned on a small little flashlight. A light so weak, that it barely lit a few centimeters on the wall that was in front of us. It was so black I didn’t even know there was a wall there until she turned on the flashlight. Slowly she moved it over the wall revealing parts of photos, just the eyes, just the mouth, a profile, a young face.
And so it went, for what seemed like an eternity, my guide highlighting parts of these characters while they whispered to me their darkest moments.
Then she led me to a door, it opened and I was in a small hallway that was dimly lit. There was a women dressed in white who handed me dried oregano and softly recited a melancholy Italian children’s nursery rhyme to me . Then I was led to a set of stairs, I went up, someone offered me a hot tea and I just stayed, decompressing from my experience until I was ready to leave.
Talk about intense.
How was that for a reason to dress! Oh and this is what I wore.
I’ve linked up with Karly Kim and Get Your Pretty On for this post.