25 out 2017
That was the most beautiful kiss she had ever had. Gradually, though, she began to feel a bitter taste coming to her lips, through her tongue, going down her esophagus and ending as a feeling of hardness in her belly, as if her intestines had turned into concrete. The she stopped flying and fell in a gigantic cup of tea but instead of drowning, she beagn to recover from that bad set of feelings she just had. She swan to the edge of the cup and heard Vito shouting:
"Arianna! What have you done?"
She didn't answer. Instead, she turned to Lisa and declared "I told you he was mad! Now you see it yourself!"
Lisa raged instantly. "What? You just tried to kill me and yet you call him mad?" she started saying but stopped after looking more carefully into Arianna's expression: the woman was terrified.
"I told you he was mad", Arianna repeated staring nowhere.
"But, Arianna, he was right! This place is real, we are even sharing the perception of it. How can you still call him mad given that you are here, together with us?"
"I know this world is real, I've known it for a long time That's not the problem."
"So what is the problem?"
"We are not meant to be in a place like this. You don't realise how terrible it is to approach this much power and not to be able to use it fully. Your desires will be fulfilled, yes, but have you examined them thoroughly? Can you even name your biggest desire? Can you see it happening in front of you and fell not promptly bored and empty afterwards? Can you bear finding out that you desire things you had never imagined could come from you? This place is designed to dissolve you. That's what makes him mad: he loves it!" She was frightened, shaking while she spoke. "Vito, please, I don't want to be here anymore! Help me!"
04 nov 2017
"Dalton, put down that rifle." she said as she entered the room: "It will be useless to help her."
******
"Oh, hi Caterina!", said Sandra. "Come on in! Hugo! Caterina arrived!", and again to Caterina, "It's been ages since you visited! How are you?"
"Hum, not completely fine yet. I'm still looking for a job position. You know, I didn't get over the shutdown of our research enterprise. I cannot understand this government."
"Absolutely! When Hugo told me of it, I got really worried! He was really angry at them. But at least he is still teaching History in a college and I got plenty of work in the office."
"You are an architect, right?"
"That's right."
"Well, I'm current doing smaller jobs, like repairing damaged paintings..."
"Hello, Caterina!"
"Hugo!". They hug each other. "It looks like it's been ages!"
"Indeed! But it's been only a month. However, given that we have seen each other almost everyday the last three years... hey, have a seat. I'm gonna serve us some wine!"
Sandra leads Caterina to the couch area. "The view from this height is sublime!"
"It is! The architect that projected this building wanted to make sure everyone could have a nice view of the landscape. You see that wall is basically a huge window. It is the same at the intimate rooms. Depending on the time of the year we get light from sunrise to sunset."
"Oh! That's really interesting!"
"Don't tell me! I've got a passion for archtecture! Later I'll show you our bedroom. You're gonna love the curved glass walls and the view of the rainforest!"
"Here are your glasses, ladies." Hugo then sits beside Sandra, puts a hand on her knee. Caterina's heart freezes for a microsecond. Sandra's continues:
"But you were speaking about your current activities - Caterina said she's been repairing paintings - is that correct?"
"Yes, sometimes, when somebody pops up with a request. Recently, though, I started designing scenarios for a theater play. A new project, still germinating."
"Oh, nice! Who is the playwright?", asks Hugo.
"It's a young woman. Anyway she has already written a lot. Her name is Arianna Porto."
"Hum, I believe we've seen one of her plays already... maybe last year... but I don't recall completely. About you, Sandra?"
"I remember vaguely... it's easier to remember the directors and the cast afterall. But tell us more of this enterprise! How is it to work with Arianna?"
"Well, I'd already seen some of her plays. She studied at the same college I got my doctorate degree. That's where, talking to common friends, we've met. Then she invited me to the project and I accepted. I read some earlier version of the text and became enchanted. A proposal really different from her first works... anyway, lately it's been a little hard to talk to her because she and her boyfriend - or exboyfriend, I'm not sure - anyway, he's an actor and he was working with us. However, recently they wouldn't stop fighting, until one day they simply stopped coming to rehearsal."
"Oh, that's quite bad - do you want more wine? - but can you at least carry on without them?"
"Yes, at least the text was finished - yes, please - and luckily there were other actors studying Vito's part. Their attitude was discouraging for us but we carried on. I am still excited about planning the scenarios, for me it's an opportunity to keep a bond with our previous work."
"Ah! You are using Iamìauà art as reference!", Hugo exclaimed.
"Indeed! To be more specific I'm developing some ideas around the legend of The Man Who Couldn't See His Face."
"Ow, that one is a good one! What if we read it - I believe we have it in our book - but after dinner? I'm starving! You two go to the table, I'm gonna check the oven."
After dinner, they went to the balcony at Sandra's and Hugo's bedroom to look at the moon and rest a bit. Hugo brought a large book.
"Remember, Caterina?"
"Oh, that's a relic! We worked on it by collecting oral reports from Iamìauà descendants. But we were still students, it was too long ago!"
"Oh, not too long, we're still not that old!"
"Anyway, start reading."
"Fine! Let's find the page. The man who couldn't see his face... here! Ok, I'll start."
One day the outland man arrived at the forest. He didn't know the forest and got lost. Everyday he tried walking in a different direction but everytime he would arrive at the same spot. Tired of this situation, he decided to walk faster and faster and make circles smaller and smaller. The stars that watched him got dizzy and confused and angry at him. So they sent a wind to wipe off his face. One day he stopped by a river to drink some water, crouched by the margin and realized he couldn't see his face on the water reflection. The following days he started feeling really sad. He missed his family and he thought a lot of his mother. One day, however, he saw two people in the forest, a man and a woman. The woman was his mother. She was laying asleep on the ground and the other man had kneeled beside her, touching her hair and her face. The outland man thought the other man would make her harm. He pointed his gun at the stranger. The forest spirit saw what was happening and said: don't do this, it will be useless to help her. But he shot anyway. Then he ran to approach his mother. When he arrived, the two figures disappeared.
By the time Hugo finished reading, Sandra had already slept, resting her head on his thigh. He put the book on a small table and hang his arm over the armrest, in a way that his fingers could gently touch the fingers of his friend, without waking his wife. "So, what does this legend tell you?", he asks quietly.
26 nov 2017
Samya was the mother of four boys. When her fifth son, Abaita, was born, all his brohers were grown men already. Abaita was a handsome boy and his family was very fond and attached to him. Nevertheless, being a child between grownups was difficult because everybody had a different opinion to teach him and everybody wanted him to be the best man he could. But for each person, "to be the best man" had a different meaning.
One day he became so sad for not being able to share his own ideas - afterall, everybody else seemed to be smarter than he - and the world beyond his family looked ugly, violent and frightening. There seemed to be no time or place on the world for him. Thus he decided to climb the highest tree he found and live alone on it for indefinite time. His mother became really sad about his decision and everyday she would go to an open area on the woods to see Abaita on the tree. He could see her as well.
However, after some years, Samya stopped appearing. The world became strangely silent. Abaita, then, decided to climb down and see what happened. His village was gone - destroyed by war. He kept walking but was never able to find a single person to talk to. After a while he arrived at a bigger city. He ran towards the central square. There he found a battle of motionless stone warriors fighting each other forever. Between them he found the statues of his loved brothers, petrified in expressions of pure hatred. On that moment he realised that all this was his fault - that was a consequence of his decision of living aparted from the world.
24 dez 2017
I am Kujia from the Iamiauá tribe. They are Dalton, Anna, Zahos and Hulan. We are here to save you!"
"Well, welcome! And thank you but I don't need to be saved from Arianna's cooking; she's a really good cook. Come on in, folks, and enjoy the party!"
"What did you say? We are looking for the Designer!", replied Dalton.
"You mean Lisa? I believe she is a painter, not a designer. Anyway, she is with some people in the studio, showing some of her paintings. If you want, I can take you there." He passed an arm over Dalton's shoulders. "By the way, I'm Hugo, and you are..." And then Hugo led Dalton to Lisa's studio, talking excitedly and leaving no time for them to ask further questions. The others stayed in the living room, still confused about what was going on. However, they decided to accept some apperitives and mingle.
Wandering around, Anna found Amanda and Arianna talking in the kitchen:
"... why do you thing it is so hard to be among our own family?" Seeing Anna, Amanda interrupted herself to greet the newcomer. "Oh, hello, Anna! Long time no see you! You're finally back from your journey! We almost thought you wouldn't return!"
"Amanda! I'm so happy to see you again! Indeed, so much has succeded that it could have happened that I stayed aparted. To be sincere, being here today is a great surprise."
"Wow, please tell me everything! But first let me introduce you to Arianna. She one of our hosts tonight and responsible for the party menu." Then, to Arianna: "And this is Anna, a friend of mine, who'd been traveling quite a few years until now."
"Pleased to meet you, Anna."
"I'm pleased to meet you, too. And thank you for receiving us. However, is the party due to some special occasion?"
"Well, yes, it is the birthday of our roommate, Vito. We started living together a bit after his accident, you know, to help him about his limited conditions. This year we decided to throw a party for him to see if we can cheer him up a little."
"Roommate, Arianna?! You're not telling the whole story!"
"Okay, okay. Vito was my boyfriend. But we were not compatible, actually we broke up eons ago. And even if there were any feelings left, I don't see how it could still be possible to maintain a love relation with him anymore. In any case, I believe it is my responsibility to stay close and support him somehow."
"Come on, Arianna, it was not your fault, nor Lisa's, waht happened to him!"
"I know, I know, but we still want to take care of him. Afterall, it's not that hard, after you get used to the caring routine. And besides that, we are working normally."
"Well, but now I'm curious", said Anna. "What happened to Vito?"
******
"...so, the legend says that the first Iamiauá village was founded by a man named Abaitá. Abaitá means "stone people". He earned this epithet after stopping a war by turning the soldiers into stone. The sad part of his story was that his family also became rocks. For this, his sorrow and regret was so deep that he gained supernatural powers. He was able then to use star matter to create new people and those folks he created became the Iamiauá."
"But way was it his fault that his family was also turned into stone in the first place?"
"Well, the legend implies that it happened because of his decision to abandon his family house, however, it doesn't give much more details. My interpretation is that it is a metaphor - they didn't really became stone. Actually, when Abaitá ran away to free himself from his brothers' prejudices, he also gave up of the opportunity to develop renewed, shared experiences and opinions with them. Thus, their opressive images became somehow 'petrified'. Anyway that is just my version of an explanation and these series of ark work you are seeing right now are inspired on that vision."
