In October 2021 Street Levels Gallery has collaborated in the realization of the project OASIS, a plan for the renovation of the Biblioteca della Ghisa in Follonica, which from that date will host a new children’s room. The work, destined for the large wall of the room, was designed by Nian, a Florentine artist known for her intimate and communicative aesthetics. Her interest in art therapy often accompanies her projects: In addition to the wall, Nian has also organized painting workshops with the students of the school in Via Varsavia.

“It rains from a book in a desert. / It rains from a book that is a shelter. / It rains a story that I don’t know yet. / A river is born. / A flower is born.” – Nian.

‘Can we make flowers grow in a desert?’ represents an expressive premise, a phrase emblematic of the work conducted by the artist.An invitation to reading as a tool capable of making fertile what is arid, of nourishing the uncultivated, of transforming our everyday life, especially that of young people. The project, financed by the Municipality of Follonica, therefore acquires an even more symbolic meaning from a historiographical point of view: the Biblioteca della Ghisa (Library of Cast Iron) is the result of a renovation and refunctionalization plan of the ILVA siderurgic complex – the old foundry closed in 1961 – which, today, represents a point of reference for the educational and cultural activities of the city.

ALTRO