September-November 2019, Japan

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Dreaming of Japan, I decided I had to be there that same year at my birthday.
Learning the basics of Japanese language, looking for opportunities, saving money was a way to start making it happen.

But it went differently. Out of the blue I met Hori, a woman from Japan, in my hometown in the South of Italy, we had a brief and relaxed conversation and exchanged details.
After a few days she sent me a link to apply for an art residency in Japan. I did apply and unexpectedly I was selected for a two months, fully funded Artist in ASO Residency, in Kumamoto, Japan. I had a chance to experience Japan as an artist and at the same time actually be there at my birthday, as I wanted to.
It probably was just a coincidence, but it felt like serendipity, as the Universe had actually accepted my request and intensified it.

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I found myself alone in a 13 generations Japanese house next to a waterfall, surrounded by the bamboo forest on one side and the cedar forest on the other, in a village called Minami-Oguni-machi. It felt scary at first. The village was small, the shops were far, beyond the forests I could only see rice fields and a few dispersed houses.

What seemed scary, slowly became peaceful, I had the chance to meditate, observe nature, observe myself and...experience the real Japan.
Every person I met gave me something unforgettable, it was communication beyond language, it was real.
My visual research on water made me explore water sources around my village.

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