The Wandering LibrarY

La luna al guinzaglio (The moon on a leash) was chosen as a good practice for its artistic vocation combined with its environmental and social commitment. What is La luna al guinzaglio and what are its main practices?
La luna al guinzaglio is an association that has been operating in Italy for 20 years, based in Potenza. It deals with artistic awareness and social and environmental protection by carrying out training activities and workshops. Since 2010 we have also been involved in the production of exhibitions, a sector through which we are able to tell the story of our territory and our relationships through an artistic vision.

One of the most interesting practices carried out recently by your collective is the Wandering Library project. What is it about?
The Wandering Library was born following the M.E.M.O.RI. project Euro-Mediterranean Museum of Refused Objects, created for Matera European Capital of Culture in 2019, in which we experienced the narrative power of “collected” objects as keys to access the dialogue between artists and communities. Those who collect things, in our opinion, develop an attention towards hidden beauty and take care of small things: the things found on the ground are a gift, they condense a human and material dimension capable of opening up a different gaze on cities. The Wandering Library is a collection of artists’ books created starting from the simple gesture of collecting humble things: artists from different areas of Italy have collected objects and traces crossing the streets of their cities to handcraft the Babelic Atlases, books without text in accordion format with a strong tactile and sensorial component. To date, over 10 port cities have been involved and the collection includes 30 Atlases, but the project is constantly expanding.

How did the idea of the Wandering Library come about? Is there a practice that inspired you?
The Atlases are created by putting together techniques already in use in art and craftsmanship but what makes them special is the narration of each individual artist.
For sure a generative meeting was the one with the Tétouan artist Hassan Eschair in 2018: in an unexpected situation, Hassan showed us some of his books in which a wire made from an old kitchen grill was grafted: that moment, that emotion with the colors and smells of the medina it was perhaps the spark from which the Wandering Library then came to life.
The practice that guided us is simply walking: walking to activate a dialogue, a philosophical discussion, a slow perception. In the book “Walkscapes Walking as an aesthetic practice” by Francesco Careri, the author explains that walking allows you to collect not only things but also thoughts, words, images: this reading inspired us a lot.

Who is the Wandering Library project aimed at, which targets did it involve?
The most direct target was the public of academies, galleries and museums, people who already use the practice of art as a language in their study or individual research.
Families and all citizens were also involved, who participated in the creation of the Atlases by communicating with the artists and donating materials to them. Furthermore, the books have been on display in the 4 mother cities envisaged in the first draft of the project and all artists conducted local workshops aimed at their own target groups.

How does La luna al guinzaglio finance its activities and how was this project financed specifically?
The Wandering Library was financed with a call from the Terzo Pilastro Internazionale Foundation, which is based in Rome and works in the Mediterranean area.
Other of our activities, such as exhibition productions, arise from a shared desire in the collective, in response to which we then start looking for the right funding, a public tender or a private foundation that can support it. Only in one case we invested independently in a production without looking for external economies: it was our first exhibition, Le Patamacchine, which inaugurated in 2010. The exhibition is still on the national circuit today and proved to be a good investment and not a cost!

How are your activities and projects disseminated within the local and international community? Through which channels?
Activities that move outside the region are shared mainly using our social channels. We work a lot with local community using word of mouth and dedicated messages, asking our contacts to become multipliers of the initiative. This can be possible because in these 20 years of relationships we have always dedicated time to people by promoting activities that could communicate how is important taking care of people and things.

What advice would you give to someone wanting to start a similar project?
Cultivating patience rather than expectation of the result is the advice I would give: results most of the time arrive when you don’t expect them and are often connected to other processes that you didn’t consider. Then I believe it is important to nourish relationships both within your team and out of your team, never measuring them thinking of what they can give you in return. Being in love with your job and being grateful to the context in which you live: the earnings may turn out to be less than the time dedicated but that remuneration probably can arrive in terms of quality of time, which I believe is an important value today. And then I recommend doing a lot of training, reading and being curious especially about cultures and other languages: even small businesses should invest more in a multicultural vision.

What are your goals for the next two years?
The next two years are so close that I can already feel them underway! However, I have no difficulty in projecting La luna al guinzaglio towards a goal for 2030: opening the Library of the Sea Peoples here in Potenza, a mountain city and the highest regional capital in Italy, to bring the shores and their experiences closer to us and to our looks.