A Winter Tale

Here is a picture gallery of Cristina Ortolani’s latest exhibition in Novilara, Vestimenta: the weave of fairy tales (la trama delle fiabe –
a pun difficult to translate into English, as the Italian word ‘trama’ may mean both ‘weave’ and ‘plot’).

‘Cosa significa principessa, se non l’anima su cui cadde una scelta?’ (Cristina Campo, Gli imperdonabili)

‘What does Princess mean, if not  soul a choice was made upon?’ (Cristina Campo, The Unforgivable)

Murano beads reminding the pumpkin in Cinderella, Swarowski crystals representing the magic of salt and snow. Metal thin wires as a cage for Turandot‘s cold heart, and seven hemp threads for the bag containing the tales of Tuscan story-tellers. The plot of fairy tales is told using needle and thread on essential clothing. Fairy dresses are capable of shiny spells: they can mark a child’s destiny with pebbles, as in Tom Thumb (Pollicino), or with nettles as in Andersen’s Wilde Swans (words by Cristina Ortolani).