Wednesday, 30 April 2008

It's not spag bol......

No, it's not spag bol ! This is the page spread that illustrates Bologna as 'la grassa' - the fat - meaning it's a great place to eat. This is a type of tagliatelle called 'paglia e fieno' from the Emilia-Romagna area. The cutaway at the top of the page is from a famous Bologna roofline.
The date-and-time page spread is the date and time of the strage di Bologna. The station clock is always left set at that time. I suppose you'll think I'm weird that I'd do a book about this massacre so long after the time, and from the other side of the world. The family I lived with in Rome were communist intellectuals. They said I must go to Bologna, and I just adored it. The thing I remember though, in my first visit in 1975, everyone's luggage was searched at the train station. Such a thing was unheard of, and it stuck in my mind. It took me thirty years to get back, and I loved it just as much.
This third page is to illustrate the massacre at the railway station and the collage is Italian words to do with murder and terrorism. It is sooo hard to find Italian magazines for collage in Sydney. Leichhardt, the Italian area, which is near where I live has not one op shop.

2 comments:

Carol said...

This book is just wonderful and I love seeing the different treatments on the pages. You can be really proud of this one, I think you've made a classic.

Robyn said...

Your book is beautiful and moving, Wendy. Sorry I've not been around lately but I see you need some Italian printed matter. Contact me and I'll see if I can help. I'm your, sort of Little not-so-local Italian Op Shop.