It’s that time of year again, and tomorrow afternoon Pietro will be leaving Salvador for another extended tour of Europe, together with a group of Salvador city officials, to promote the ICBIE, the innovative Salvador grafita program and, especially, the new Oficina de Rua project. Pietro’s companions will be Edvando Luiz Castro Pinto (Tucunaré), city coordinator of the Salvador grafita program; José Francisco Paranaguá Guimarães, official Salvador grafita photographer (and faithful ICBIE collaborator); Carlos Ribeiro Soares, city councillor for culture and education and his consort Aridea Pestana Cruz.
The will fly to Frankfurt, Germany, where they will meet with our friend Daniele Messina at the Italian consulate. On Monday, they go to Limburg to meet with the mayor and to see Steve and Renate at Lahnartists. On Tuesday, they travel south to Basel, where they will visit with ICBIE collaborator Judith Rickenbacher before proceeding to Riva del Garda on Wednesday. There, they will meet with the mayor to establish a partnership, and the city will remain their base until Sunday, allowing for day trips to Verona, Trento and Venice.
Sunday morning they will move to Modena, where they will brunch with former Ribeira resident Davide Diacci, and in the afternoon they will meet with the mayor of Reggio Emilia, Graziano del Rio. On Monday, they will get together with the co-partners of the new Oficina de Rua project, visiting the ARCI office in Reggio before moving on to Bologna to meet the city councillor Elisabetta Calari at the Palazzo d’Accursio, in Piazza Maggiore.
On Tuesday (the 27th), they will conclude their discussions with ARCI in Reggio, have a quick meeting with the municipal secretary of culture in Modena and with the director of the Jazz Bar Pernilla who has supported the ICBIE for years, and then drive to Rome. During their three days in the capital, they will visit the Alagados Photo Exhibit at the Cassetta Rossa), where they will meet with all the people from ICBIE Europa, and spend a morning at the American Overseas School of Rome, admiring Júlio and Bigode’s murals and visiting with old friends, besides seeing the sights of the city. On the morning of May 1st, they fly back to Salvador (via Frankfurt), leaving Pietro to continue his adventures (and valiant ICBIE campaigns) in Rome.
