“I felt the need to talk about - beyond the simple aesthetic side, of which I still understand the importance - the resources and strength that are released in people who find themselves having to face moments of fragility.

The Circle Dances are aimed at anyone who wishes to follow a path of inner awareness and benefit from the group harmony that is generated: the steps and movements that draw geometric shapes in space connect us to the Cosmos, to the forces of Life, to Divine Energy which sustains all Creation. Dancing in a circle regenerates us in body and soul, allowing our mind and emotions to align and find balance.

Through Circle Dancing we celebrate all aspects of our lives and are encouraged to create an atmosphere of mutual trust and creativity.

I investigate the light in the heart.”

Mori Andrea was born in Sondrio in 1977, lives in La Valascia (SO) and works in the woods where he walks. He graduated from the Brera Academy of Fine Arts, with a thesis dedicated to the theme of walking, and subsequently specialized in Art Therapy with a final essay on popular culture, legends and paths of Valmalenco (SO). Over the years he has developed his own artistic research - focused on the creation of site-specific installations - addressing issues such as traveling on foot, observation and study of the territory in all its forms. Among the last walks: 15 days in La Palma (Spain), 7 days on the coast of Sardinia, 10 days in the mountains of Abruzzo. Among the exhibitions: “The Tree of Memory”, Slow Walk Festival, Feltre, 2019 – “Patriarchi Arborei”, Galleria Credito Valtellinese and MVSA, Sondrio, 2017 – “INN-EN”, Styleconception, Innsbruck, 2016.

https://terraestorie.it/

“Somewhere I read smile, it confuses people!

A smile can be spontaneous or forced. It can be built with layers of exercises.

It can be an act of courage, a subversive act when no one expects you to do it.

Smiling is the expression of a will: a feeling of goodness that can change us and our perception of the world.

It doesn't change the situation, but it sheds a golden light on everything.

A smile is capable of bringing people together even if they don't know each other.

The smile is contagious.

You smile."

Anna Giuntini was born in 1980 in Salutio, in the province of Arezzo and likes to define herself, in a few words, as a visual artist, proud mother, music addict and collector of memories. He has always cultivated his own way of seeing things and an interest in research into expressive means. He first studied "Art of Fashion and Theatrical Costume" then illustration and photography at the IED.

From here he tackles photographic postproduction; experiences the transition between analogue and digital photography by collaborating with Giovanni Gastel. His artistic production brings together all these experiences in a mix of analogue and digital, with the aim of making unique, through an artisanal intervention, what was created replicable in series. The expressive language is fundamentally figurative, but with a strong evocative and suggestive character given by the different materials used. Photography, collage, paper and inks are the most recurrent means of his investigation into memories, places, times and emotions. Gold, then, has always had a significant presence in his works.

https://www.annagiuntini.com/

“The subject of the work is a real leaf, fixed on paper, which can only be observed through a sort of porthole created with plays of transparencies, to focus attention on a detail of the leaf's vein rather than on the entire shape that appears is usually noticed more.

It is a metaphor for the sequence of events that shape all of us into who we are; when, with the last strength, the most resistant ones, we show ourselves more fragile but unique in our subjectivity and reveal all our beauty.”

Annalisa Di Meo, born in Brescia in 1977, began her artistic training at the Liceo Artistico “M. Olivieri” in Sarezzo (BS), where he graduated in 1995 with full marks. He subsequently enrolled at the Polytechnic of Milan where he graduated in Architecture in 2003; During his university studies he also obtained the qualification of Graphic Advertising Operator.

His research is characterized as an investigation into the potential of matter, the object of assiduous experimentation, in the definition of refined formal and chromatic balances, in which the forms of nature are recovered in a metaphorical key, to suggest the poetry inherent in the seemingly most simple and ordinary.

Since 2006 he has participated in exhibitions and competitions in Italy and abroad.

https://annalisadimeo.com/

“It is impossible to understand what a person affected by cancer is going through: in addition to accepting the transformation undergone by their body, they must rebuild their self-confidence and self-esteem to find a new place in society.

Return to normality: easy to say, but very complex and tiring when you have suffered such a trauma.

With my work, I try to represent my point of view, paying homage to all the people who are laboriously following this path and encouraging them to find a new balance: regenerating themselves after illness and being reborn as if from a battlefield.

The color in small spots on the face is not just makeup : it is a beginning, a step towards a new life.”

Armando Tinnirello expresses himself with painting, photography and multimedia.

In photography he is inspired by Nature, the myth of metamorphoses and shamanism, creating tribal masks. In painting he is inspired by the philosophy of Heraclitus, the myth of primordial fire.

He has participated in dozens of group exhibitions from New York City to Art Basel Miami to the Louvre, and held numerous solo exhibitions.

https://armandotinnirello.wixsite.com/tinnirello

ICON : feminine noun; in the language of semiologists, a message entrusted to the image.

This work, like the Icon, aims to reflect on the importance of one's image.

The contour of the face is open, just as the identity of those who face a process of rebuilding their Self is open.

The gold of the background from which the facial features emerge represents the most sacred and spiritual part of the individual, the bridge between mind and body.

The fresh, almost naive colors are a tribute to the playfulness of makeup. They bring us back to a playful dimension which, as in childhood, opens up to experimentation in a shared but deeply personal field, beyond imposed canons.

Francesca Veneri lives and works in Verona, where she was born in 1964. After training at the Istituto Marangoni in Milan, she attended the Accademia del Superfluo in Rome and the Cignaroli Academy of Fine Arts in Verona, where she attended free anatomy courses artistic, drawing, fresco, oil painting and watercolor for over fifteen years, carrying on in parallel his professional activity in various artistic fields.

His creative and curious spirit has been expressed for years through various artistic forms: fashion design, interior decoration, creation of trompe l'oeil and frescoes, painting. He participated in the creation of the sets and costumes of short films, and is a professor of painting and artistic expression at the Free University of Valpolicella-Verona. At the same time, since 2015 she has been appointed member of the GB Cignaroli Academy of Fine Arts and together with other members she organizes and manages the free courses.

https://francescaveneri.webflow.io/

“An indefinite and fleeting figure passes through a space occupied by solid and giant gazes: the faces of a man and a woman, really old, although separated in the image, are in tune in the expression. From the wrinkles that affect the skin of the face, the powerful energy of a broad, gentle smile is released, which goes straight to shaking the ignored and buried desire for hope that we harbor in our hearts..."

Gigi Tramezzani was born in Saronno in 1956. In addition to his entrepreneurial activity, he dedicates himself to community life in the city, collaborating with various associations in the educational field.

He approached the world of art very early, expressing himself above all with photography, for which he received several awards; he exhibited his works in Milan, Forlì and Bari.

gigi@tramezzani.com

“The work Lights in the Dark was created to tell the story of the possible beauty hidden in situations of suffering and physical and emotional discomfort. Small ellipses of light emerge from the black infrastructures erected to defend one's self and in the dark nights.”

Giulia Nelli was born in 1992 in Legnano, where she lives and works. After studying at the Brera Academy, he combines training and experience in areas such as design, the use of technology in exhibition design, curatorial skills, art courses for children. He participates in numerous artistic awards, with frequent recognition, and exhibits in frequent personal and collective exhibitions.

His creative and artistic path is characterized by the search for the multisensory potential of colors and materials, to intensify the communicative ability and the experience of using objects.

https://nelligiulia.com/

“My ceramic creations have many characteristics in common with the maternal breast: both express life, strength and rebirth.

Ceramic is a strong and stable material, capable of resisting the stresses of time, just like a mother's breast, but at the same time fragile.

Kintsugi is an ancient Japanese art which consists of restoring fractured ceramic objects with a gold paste: this noble gesture - often defined as the art of healing - not only gives ceramics back its value, but actually makes it unique and precious.

This technique represents a profound metaphor for life: the wounds and scars we carry are part of us and are symbols of struggle, tenacity and victory. Kintsugi teaches us to go beyond appearances and appreciate the priceless value of imperfection.”

Born in '76 in Milan, Johnny Pixel, born Johnny Papagni, began his artistic research in the mid-'90s.

After a first foray into painting, he experiments with the potential of the material by choosing waxes and metal alloys. These first experiences are sublimated in the ink drawing, where an apparent chaos hides, instead, traces and clues of his experience and his artistic future.

In 2010, lights and shadows become the raw material of his research: thus the "Photographic Transpositions" were born.

The forays into everyday life instead give life to the series “Instants from The World”, where the artist captures images belonging to the world around him, and which in some way have deeply contaminated him, and then represents them reworked through his personal point of view .

He currently experiments with new expressive forms through the modeling of ceramics into objects inspired by nature and designed for multiple uses.

https://www.tuttetettedesign.it/

“Overcoming one's own record and moving forward towards the goal: this is in the mind of the athlete who prepares his race. Courage, beauty of a woman, strength of mind are the weapons in the battle to face the challenges ahead of her head on. One day this woman will turn around with a smile and bright eyes, thinking about her past.”

Born in 1970 in Japan, after graduating from Musashino Art University in Tokyo, Kazuto Takegami worked as an art professor for some years. In that period he decided to dedicate his life to painting. He arrived in Italy in 1998 with a scholarship at the Brera Academy of Fine Arts in Milan, the city where he currently lives and works. He combines oil paintings with unmistakable inks on paper, in a poetic discourse between man and the elements of nature. Since 2020 he has been a member of Permanente in Milan.

http://www.kazutotakegami.com/

“For me, the sea is the exemplification of strength and quiet, serenity and tension. Beyond the dichotomies, standing in front of the sea gives me the feeling of having all the possibilities of my life in front of me.”

Luca Conca was born in Gravedona (CO) in 1974. He attended the Brera Academy of Fine Arts where he graduated in Painting in 1998. He lives and works in Morbegno (SO).

Main solo exhibitions: 2004 Characters and landscapes - curated by Alessandro Riva, Galleria Antonia Jannone, Milan; 2005 Luca Conca - edited by Michele Tavola, with a text by Andrea Vitali, Villa Sirtori, Olginate (LC); 2007 Double gaze - edited by Rino Bertini, with texts by Marco Vappello and Armando Massarenti, Galleria Credito Valtellinese, Palazzo Sertoli, Sondrio; 2010 The white shadow of the mountain - edited by Fernando Gianesini, with a text by Elisabetta Sem, TECA, Chiesa Valmalenco (SO); 2016 The painted veil, curated by Elisabetta Sem, Galleria Manifiesto Blanco, Milan; 2018 The long goodbye - curated by Marcello Abbiati, Galleria Manifiesto Blanco, Milan. Over the years he has participated in numerous collective exhibitions.

https://www.lucaconca.com/

“This work, accompanied by the text Instructions for another day , wants to tell the cathartic journey of a soul in continuous movement that plays with the energy of colors in search of a better tomorrow. The vibrant explosion that seems to want to escape from the canvas represents the desire to wear a new smile and feel beautiful, despite the difficulties of life, and to take a step forward, floating lightly among the waves of a friendly sea.

The painting is dedicated to all the women who, like me, have faced or are facing a difficult moment without ever losing their self-confidence and the desire to live a tomorrow full of colours.”

Manuela Manes was born in the province of Pordenone and lives in Milan. Graduated in Law, she works in the communications sector, but expands her perspective on a path that leads her to study and paint, on an interior journey that investigates and explores her soul in colour. He mainly paints abstract and conceptual subjects, using oil, acrylic, sand, paper and enamel.

Fascinated by colors and materials, she takes as her reference the great masters, from Pollock to Burri, but above all she re-proposes with her art the places she has lived and the colors she has encountered, in a perpetual evolution.

https://www.manuelamanes.com/

“A girl holds a vase of snowdrops in her splendid graceful hands: this little plant represents life and hope; delicate and fragile, these flowers are not knocked down by the cold and snow, but bloom right in the heart of winter.

Snowdrop women: delicate, often very fragile, but capable of finding within themselves the resources to face the winter of their lives and blossom again.”

Maurizio Cariati was born in Cosenza in 1983. He studied at the Castrovillari Art Institute, specializing in the metal sector. Subsequently he decides to attend the Academy of Fine Arts of Catanzaro, painting. He obtained a level II diploma in Visual Art at the Brera Academy.

At the age of 22, he won the Celeste Prize in the student category. His artistic career began: many personal and collective exhibitions, in Italy and abroad, and collaborations. In 2011 he was invited to the 54th international art exhibition of the Venice Biennale in the Calabria region, in the prestigious setting of Villa Genoese Zerbi in Reggio Calabria. His works are present in numerous private collections and have been published in furniture and furniture magazines. Maurizio Cariati currently lives and works between Sartano (CS) and Milan.

https://www.instagram.com/mauriziocariati/?hl=it

“Events outside our will arrive suddenly: they are all natural events, even those of a malignant nature.

It is in these situations that we remember that we are part of nature, and that - like the tree - we can find the strength not to collapse.

A dispute is engaged between one's self and the changes of the body: we seek in our original roots the confirmation that we can - despite everything - remain faithful to our original."

Mercedes Cuman lives and works in Milan. He graduated in Scenography from the Brera Academy of Fine Arts. Since 2013 he has been a teacher of Art and Image.

In 1978, the publisher Mazzotta published “Ci visto il giorno, gli altri giorno ci imagine”, a book that collects photos and writings of the works of the group of feminist artists, of which she was an active protagonist.

In the 80s, she began her activity as an illustrator collaborating with the Alchimia studio. Illustration will remain his main activity throughout the 1990s.

Since 2004, he began his artistic activity on social issues, in particular on recent tragic events, such as wars and migrations, exhibiting in exhibitions dedicated to artists' books and Italian photography, in personal and collective exhibitions.

https://mercedescuman.jimdofree.com/

“I paint, I fix an emotion on the canvas; then I destroy: it is through this process of transformation that something happens, an act of self-healing, a real exercise to train the mind through a physical action where our gaze accompanies the fingers, an action that no longer allows us to go back .

This elaboration arises from the need to reach a state of lightness that allows us to see beyond what appears to us, to overcome, to imagine. It takes courage to start, just as it takes courage in the very act of tearing.

The tear is a silent act of protest; it has a metaphorical meaning: to make a break with a decisive, fast, precise movement, dictated not only by instinct, but also by the desire not to have regrets towards the past.

After the first gesture of breaking, a meditative process is triggered which is repeated like a ritual, like a Tibetan mandala, which reminds us of the impermanence of things: there is no end without a beginning, and there is no beginning without an end. ”

Of Belarusian origin, Mila Frueh approached painting as a teenager by attending the Academy of Fine Arts. With subsequent training in the field of fashion, she worked as a stylist for several years in her native country, also opening her own Atelier. Swiss by adoption for more than twenty years, she has dedicated herself to personal research, combining craftsmanship with intense drawing and painting work. Her interdisciplinary approach is revealed in the process of creating the work itself and in her poetic thought , in the almost scientific way with which he breaks down and recomposes his canvases: each tear is conceived with rigorous logic and acquires a precise meaning.

https://www.instagram.com/yudmilafrueh

“This is a mirror, it is a lamp, it is a treasure chest in which to keep a dear image; it's a friend who tells you that you are shining: while you look at yourself in the mirror (small and intimate, which leaves room only for you), choose the shade of light that best suits you by changing the glass... and, if you need it , open the chest and look at the image inside... a place, a person or even a portrait of yourself.”

Ugo Ambroggio was born in Como on 6 March 1963. In 1988 he abandoned his university studies and began working as a photographer, concentrating his personal research on architectural photography. In 1990 he founded the Aleph photography studio in Como where he still operates today. In this field he collaborates on a series of artistic projects in the Lombardy area and publishes his photos in various books and magazines.

In his activity as a designer, Ugo Ambroggio has collaborated with Baxter for years, creating furnishing accessories and unique pieces of lamps which have always been exhibited with this brand at the Salone del Mobile in Milan.

Most of the pieces created by Ambroggio are the result of transformations and reinventions of objects and tools that were used for industrial and artisan work, or even tools and equipment used daily in the past, which are given a new shape and a "second chance" , without erasing the original memory. And so, bottles, fiberglass tubes once used in the textile industries, mechanical gears, bicycle pedals, keyboards, typewriters are basic ingredients that come together in Ugo Ambroggio's alchemy, giving life to his creations.

https://www.instagram.com/ugo.ambroggio