An Event

The Holy Land Living Stones in Castiglione dei Pepoli!

It’s a Monday in August, and Castiglione has a ghostly appearance... last night, the town festival ended, and today, everyone wants to rest: baristas and shopkeepers are exhausted, and at 12:00, everything closes. Only a little heat remains, and a few boys with towels are heading to sleep by the lake.

But something is about to happen...

It’s 3:00 PM, and two "foreign" cars park in front of the theater.

There are five friends from Ferrara (Enrico, Ettore, Tiziana, Stephanie, Francesco) and two special guests: Wafa and Jiries from Bethlehem, though they are from Beit Sahour, but we’ll approximate it to Bethlehem since it’s less than a kilometer away but much more famous.

Simone and I are waiting for them in front of a closed bar. I cornered Simo yesterday at the last minute: "What are you doing tomorrow? Some friends of mine are coming, would you like to join us?" Great Simone! Now he's here with me, making the ghostly atmosphere of the town less noticeable.

Greetings and hugs, such a huge joy to have them here because they are in Italy for only a few days, and choosing to spend one of those days here is a great honor for me.

So let’s get started: the Grand Tour of Castiglione begins!

A Grand Tour made of physical stops, places of friends: artists, artisans, associations, and the administration, all ready to welcome them!

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Stop No. 1: Simone’s Art Studio

“Art does not reproduce what is visible, but makes visible what is not always so." Paul Klee

Simone is a friend since we were young, riding the same bus to reach Bologna and high school. But Simone is also an artist who creates paintings that "shoot" both the eyes and the heart.

For over a year now, he’s been painting on fabric, a completely crazy endeavor: you should see him do it! His eyes get all tangled up as he spends hours and hours applying those precise and meticulous brushstrokes, but the final result is incredible: it looks real!

His project is called Corpi Tessuti (Woven Bodies), and it involves traditional fabrics that cover bodies. It’s hard to describe because it talks about migrations and wars, about nations that forget to love the people living in them.

When he opens the door of his small studio on the main street, Wafa and Jiries can’t believe their eyes: so far from home, the walls are full of their traditional fabrics! This was unexpected... they ask to be told all about it, and they are deeply moved. Jiries wishes he could bring it to Beit Sahour, and Wafa thanks him by giving him a wooden olive rosary. Now it’s Simone’s turn to be moved.

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Stop No. 2: A Zavàj Gift

“A true journey is not about seeking new lands, but about having new eyes." Marcel Proust

Just five steps from Simone’s studio is The Stile showroom, where I go to pick up the plexiglass scraps. During the fair, I exhibited all my pieces here, spending two days with them, and we had a lot of fun greeting all the passing friends. Today they are closed, but here there’s a surprise for the Living Stones: I couldn’t not prepare a gift for them, and it had to be made by me, a special Zavàj.

I rewind a few hours: I’ve been thinking about what to gift them for two weeks, spending my evenings looking through all my creations, searching for the pieces that would be most fitting form for those who would receive them. But I swear: I couldn’t decide! First, I chose gold for one, then thought silver might be better... then I thought of a pair of earrings but didn’t know if they had pierced ears... When I thought I had decided, I changed my mind and started over. Something wasn’t right... I wasn’t using the right selection criteria... too aesthetic, too personal... panic!!! I risked not giving them anything at all...

Then I turned and saw them on a shelf: necklaces I had made for last Christmas, still there.

I looked at them, and I really saw them! They are the ones! They are the Holy Land Living Stones!

They seem to tell their story: a small light (a piece of gold) in a context of darkness, carrying a message of peace and hope.

So now, personal taste doesn’t matter anymore; they might like them or not, but they are so full of meaning that I have no doubt: I will give them these, the Living Stones Zavàj!

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Stop No. 3: The Town Hall

“Nothing is possible without people, and nothing lasts without institutions.” Jean Monnet

Outside the shop, Tommaso, is waiting for us; he’s the Mayor! He’s great because I’ll tell you a secret: I had told him the Living Stones would be coming to Castiglione, but I had forgotten to tell him when... This morning, I called him, and he cleared his schedule because he absolutely wanted to be here (sorry, Tommaso…).

Tommaso welcomes us like a true host, taking us through the beautiful rooms of the Town Hall, all made of stone with wooden beams: it was once the house of the Pepoli Counts and now hosts offices and municipal rooms but smells of history and romantic intrigue.

Then we go to his office, and he too has prepared a gift: many fantastic things that talk about the local area and its specialties, from books to "zuccherini montanari" (a delicious typical biscuit of the area).

We talk about institutions, but for those who may not like them by nature, I want to underline: we’re not discussing political or territorial strategies; it’s just a chat between people, to get to know each other better and understand the situation they live in today in Palestine. Even here, the power of the Living Stones is undeniable: they don’t make us cry for the war but for peace. They give Tommaso a "Pax Vobis" postcard, the story they take to schools. Today, when everyone talks about war, they, who are living through it, feel the urgency of speaking about peace. Inevitably, we are all moved here too.

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Stop No. 4: The Friends of Radio Fresh

“The future belongs to those who believe in the beauty of their dreams.” Eleanor Roosevelt

Oh! This is a "foundational" stop, in the sense that it was the “starting base” for deciding to invite these distant (by kilometers) friends here to Castiglione. Everything began here, in these four beautiful rooms that make up the Radio Fresh Studio.

Lele, Beppe, Elena, Daniele, Dalia, Tommaso the pharmacist, and Davide Buti gave a voice to the protagonists of "an inexhaustible friendship". It was 2023 when I proposed to the radio volunteers to record audiobooks for a collection for kids on the theme of Peace. They didn’t hesitate: "Yes!" and a wonderful podcast was born!

Among the six stories, there’s one about Bethlehem, and the story is precisely Wafa’s, who couldn’t wait to meet the person who gave a voice to little Lea (the protagonist of the book).

Lele and Buti are waiting for us in the radio studio. Living Stones on-air and an invitation to the friends at the Radio: “We’re waiting for you in Bethlehem!”

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Stop No. 5: Boccadirio

“Just to say Thank You”

And to close on a high note: one of the most beautiful places in the area, the Sanctuary of Boccadirio.

We go up, through forests of fir trees and winding roads, where other friends are waiting for us! It’s now evening, and those who were working today have been able to join us. Federico, Elena, Daniele, and even my mom and dad (the guests were so special that I couldn’t leave them out).

Ettore is our favorite non-guide, and he tells us about the meaning of these places (the sanctuaries), with a reading from an engineer-poet (not much of a poet, but very much an engineer and absolutely intelligent). We travel between the cloisters and the church, and the priest even opens the doors to a special room, one filled with the many "Thank You" gifts made by the faithful to the Madonna. There are a thousand paintings made by those who didn’t know how to paint, small objects precious more to the givers than for their economic value, everyday objects from a time gone by, and even photographs from today. These rooms bring tears to my eyes. The ex-voto are a chilling thing: these small objects made with love and without great skill are the sincerest and humblest expression of people who simply wanted to say thank you, with a gift. You can feel their joy and their certainty of something infinite, outside of them and for them.

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Stop No. 6: The End That Is Not an End

It’s time for goodbyes, chatting, and reflections on the day.

It’s also time for dinner; stomachs are growling, and in the Apennines, we know how to solve the problem: game, mushrooms, handmade pasta, and crostini.

We eat, drink, and talk some more.

And finally, the end arrives, which is not really an end:

"See you soon, Friends, we’ll meet in Bethlehem." Wafa Farid Musleh e Jiries Qumsiyeh