2025: Reflections on a year of nomadism and community
I’m starting to type this review at Café Metcha in Seoul, and I’m finishing it at Bar Veneruso in Sorrento. In other words, I’m starting it in a place where I’m very far from my former self, spearheaded into future me, and I’m finishing by penning it down in my hometown. It feels like reconnecting the two halves.
As every year, I choose a double theme for 2025, namely two words that work in tandem, as two synergistic aspects I wanted to embody throughout the year. It was supposed to be Sturdy/Shameless, but it ended up becoming more Nomadism/Community.
I guess overall there was a bit of sturdiness in 2025, in keeping up with the journalistic work and getting more consistent and organised, and I was somewhat shameless – as in “braver” – when I showed my spanking new comic book around, much more than I used to do.
The nomadism aspect makes me do a mental leap in time and space, to a conversation which I had with a charming – slightly red-flaggy – guy in Marseille this summer. He gave a name and a sense to my current lifestyle, which I felt, up to that moment, was adventuring, yes, working, for sure, but also escapism in a way.
Running from the origins, from Sorrento, of course. Also, try to avoid getting stuck in Rome. I love Rome, and my friends in Rome with all my heart. But Rome, as Romans always say, it’s quicksand. If you stay too long, it swallows you. It keeps you stuck. Nomads knew this and kept moving around to keep it fresh, to keep it interesting.
I feel like I’m writing this every year, but truly, a rolling stone gathers no moss!
Another word that mirrored the nomadic aspect and worked in synergy with, it is the community. Being independent, yet loving and being loved, is one of the greatest aspirations of mankind. And somewhat I feel this year I achieved a great balance!
Like every year, let’s get into the specifics, with the different areas of my life.
Journalism
Trips: Singapore – Bangkok – Marrakesh – Marseille (3 times) – Porto – Istanbul (2 times) – Cyprus – Helsinki – Leros – Chios – Almaty – Paris – Abu Dhabi – Oslo – Seoul
Magazines: Artforum – Observer – Le Quotidien de l’Art – ArtAsiaPacific – Qantara – Times of Central Asia – Middle East Monitor – The New Arab – Hadara – Markaz Review – Il Manifesto – IFDM
In 2025, my work and travel finally started to take a much more orderly shape.
The first aspect is that travel for exhibitions and art events is here to stay. While the first year after the pandemic travel was more sparse, in 2024 I overdid it, going 4 times to Far Asia (Singapore, Hong Kong, Seoul and Taipei), and countless time to the Near East, which was definitely too much.
This time, everything was much more balanced. I travelled mostly in Europe or places close to Europe. This made everything more sustainable, and travelling much less fatiguing. While I ended up extending some of these trips, I realised that a press trip is a different animal from a research trip, and I have to pace myself.
This meant having to say no to a very enticing Seoul-Taipei-Shanghai (I ended up going to Seoul at the end of the year for a different event), in order to control the stress, my health, and reground myself, after having spent an entire month in Marseille and 5 days in Porto. I went to Istanbul for the first time this year instead, so it was time well spent, still working, only less plane time.
If you travel with the frequency that I do, it’s important to spend time in your home base to reconnect with friends and habits. For a similar reason, I ended up not going on a very cool trip to the Baltics, which would have come right after my second trip of the year in Istanbul.
In the travel part I have to mention that having the intention of making of Marseille my second base, I spent a fairly bit of time there. The aforementioned March, and came back two times for two weeks in the summer. What a wonderful city! It’s not easy to make this adjustment working with the press trips, but every time I go to Marseille, no matter the season, I feel refreshed, renewed and unburdened.
In terms of the press trip, circa October, I tried a different method of organization of the work, around the trips. Now the aim is to have three commissions for each press trip. Considering that I’m doing roughly two press trips a month, it will mean some six commissions a month. Of course, I would also write of subjects unrelated to trips, following the art scenes in Libya, Indonesia and more.
In terms of publications, highlights were my article for ArtForum, and a couple of article in French for Le Quotidien de l’Art… a challenging yet rewarding experiencing writing in another language… what I’m cultivating to become my third language. It was sad to have Middle East Monitor, a staple of mine for many may year, cutting their art writing and freelance collaborations. However, I consolidated the collaborations with the NY Observer and ArtAsiaPacific, I wrote a fair bit of pieces for Times of Central Asia, in conjunction with the emergence of this art scene.
How am I stepping up next year? Through regular pitching to the publications that are my target, through structuring better the whole pitching/press trip/article writing process, and also having the financial part come at the forefront, taking more decision that are sustainable on that end, as well as prioritising interestingness as I’ve always done.
In terms of geographical regions, I’m super interested in expanding the Mediterranean research, as well as looking more into the contemporary system in the Scandinavian countries. A dream and a wish would be to travel West, especially to South America… no concrete plan there, but let’s put it out there in the universe and see what happens!
Finally, a word for my working environment. For all the precarious nature of freelancing, the headaches chasing editors, invoices, and articles that somehow got lost, the beauty of meeting colleagues on trips is really the best feeling. And now with people like Elise, Manuela, Ravail, Yuna or Werner, I have so many memories in common of incredible experiences in awesome places. Not to speak that, from Paris to Seoul, I always have some local friends, which is the best feeling.
In Rome, I’m also incredibly lucky to have Zazie nel Metro, the café I work from, and I have cultivated a number of real friendships there. It’s truly a second home. What a gift! Hopefully, next year I’ll find something similar in Marseille. Variazioni di stile are my thing.
Graphic Novels
Ok, I did finish Via del Pigneto, my graphic novel, but I did not publish with a publisher as I intended in the beginning, but I once again self-published (still finalizing the last details of this.) While I told myself that I’d keep the proposal rotating until it piqued the interest of a publishing house, I really wanted to be done with this story.
It took me three years to finish it, because of travel, but also because the story was hard to draw, and the inspiration for it was still an uncomfortable presence. But I pinched myself on the stomach and went forward. I had to finish it! Like last year, I pushed myself to finish all the pencils, even when it was extremely hard to do it. This year, I took advantage of every day in Rome to colour the missing pages.
While the care I originally intended is probably not there, I’m really proud of having brought the project to completion. It’s the end of a period of my life, and now I can safely say the two characters of my story are my characters.
Because the subject is a bit sensitive (and PG18), I’ll keep this work a bit under the radar, at least compared to what I originally wanted. It’s ok. I also got a variety of feedback on the work, which convinced me that ultimately having it in a bit of an underground circuit is the best solution.
Next year will be dedicated to the new work “All my Friends are Adventurers”, a new book set in Marseille. I’m going back to zero, going back to black and white, and this time prioritizing quality and reach over the idea of expression and finishing the book – I know I’m saying this with every project… it’s a bit like fighting my nature as a storyteller, who just want to dive into the beauty of drawing, but if I want to improve this shift in making work is necessary!
Also, this time I’ll gather feedback on all parts of the process, not only when the work is done. Since the work is set in Marseille, I’d love to keep exploring not only the city as the muse, but also get more feedback from the many friends in the comic book world I met through previous research. I’ll tell you, there is an incredible scene there, and I feel I have so much to learn from these people!
Wellness
In terms of sport, I’ll practice my word (one of the two) of 2026 year “temperance.” Which means training in moderation, and continuing to favour walks, even if those are boring, which means keeping the sugars in check.
Another little self-initiated practice which I kept every time I was on a beach was the freestyle staff. I had a lot of fun this summer filming videos at La Solara with my friend Daniele, conjuring up new moves with the hanbo that another friend, Diego, gifted me. And even in the most unlikely places, like a beach in a hotel resort in Abu Dhabi, I will sneakily get my hands on a broomstick and start a flow.
One thing I want to insert in my travel routine is one thing with my body, whether going one time to the beach, training in a local martial art or a yoga lesson, a form of sauna from a certain country (this year I tried the traditions of Helsinki and Korea). While I always do yoga on my own in the morning, even on trips, I feel that if time allows, it’s really nice to connect to the local environment through sweat!
In terms of martial arts, on my 2025 vision board, there was Aikido, but truthfully, after one single lesson, I found it way too soft for me, although it has many points in common with Bujinkan, which I was practicing before. Also kick kickboxing was there on the board, and I started practicing it a bit both at the beginning and the end of the year. It’s not my favourite, I have to admit that I’d still prefer a martial art to a combat sport. But we’ll see how it goes. For now, I’m very happy to stay in my old dojo, and Antonello’s lessons are pure fun and cabaret.
While I fell a bit off the meditation wagon, I kept a regular yoga practice throughout the year, ranging from 15 minutes in the busiest day, to some 30 minutes on the best days. This is now installed in my every day, like eating breakfast and brushing my teeth. It’s easy, and I just have to keep showing up for it.
In terms of health, this year presented new challenges, which had me take more responsibilities, and kicked me into becoming more tidy and organized in other areas, in order to be able to keep up with check-ups, visits and all, in between trips.
Definitely, this part of my life is not included in my Instagram highlights, but it’s important to say that it’s all happening in an extremely rich and interesting life, full of passions, interests, friendships, adventures, ideas, curiosities, and inspirations. So while I do have my moments of worry and sadness, these don’t last very long, and I always push back.
I am incredibly lucky to live in a country that offers free healthcare, to have a family that supports me and friends that keep up with me when I feel down, and occasionally give me a lift when I needed. I do have a support system, and for that I’m so lucky.
The diabetes went relatively well, considering how much time I was away from any kind of routine. What really helped was making regular walks when I wanted, lasting as much time as I wanted, versus a set amount of training outside of my control. A minor but significant shift was also to meet a friend who also has diabetes. He has a totally unruly and wild life, and still manages to manage diabetes very well. His example expanded the idea of how to deal with this, outside of my ways and fears. As I said, never underestimate the power of the community.
What I will do this year will be to put my body in the condition to heal in the best way. This will mean improving my diet, also when I am abroad – no more croissants for breakfast for 5 days in a row – and make small adjustment to further improve the diabetes management.
Community
Ok, I mentioned it so many times since the start of this post, so allow me to say more; Rome is the place where I built, brick by brick, my friendships. My idea of a friendship is enduring, long lasting, adapting. It has been a marvel to bring together different group of friends, from the aforementioned friends from Zazie, to the dojo’s staple, to the friends that date back from the time of the art academy, to new ones.
Besides the dinner at my place on Saturday, which are becoming less frequent because of my trip, but oh-so-precious, we now have a new traditions of meeting on Saturday morning in another café in Rome, Corner, where I arrive very early to do my review of the week. Lately, a friend who comes from a somewhat witchy lineage reads the tarots cards to all the friends that are arriving for a cappuccino later on.
Another tradition which I treasure is taking a cappuccino with Elliott before I leave for a trip. I mean, I feel my every need is covered by a village, and I’m eternally grateful for this. I feel so held!
Also, I had people like Anand, a friend from Paris, to visit me in Marseille, and met him again in Rome. And I also hosted another Marseillese friend, Christophe… what a joy introducing him to my friends in the neighbohood. It’s good fun (though sometimes a bit explosive) to mix up different realities together. Those alchemies are genuinely one of the things that make me the happiest. I just step back, observe, and feel content to have created some interactions.
This year, in the heart department, in the ministry of the emotions, I had two concurrent movements. I had to mend a broken heart from the same person who keeps coming back into my life and creating havoc– but this time the rage was much more complex and tied to a double betrayal.
I lived my life, sure, and I was very happy in it. But in this phase, which lasted a long time, the only mention of this person would throw me into fits of rage and thoughts, which I would not act upon – of revenge. I guess the sentiment was more of a “You Oughta Know” kind of feeling. And yet, in the end, the conditions changes, I got closure, an “I’m sorry,” so I could finally let go of the rage.
Having met some other pretty fantastic people throughout the year, in Singapore, in Pigneto, on the Island of Frioul, on the boat from Chios to Leros, I also somewhat modified my heart algorithm, which was the intention all along. So now it’s so much easier to practice temperance in relationships. And enjoy what they truly can give, without getting swallowed by misdirected feelings.
Sometimes it seems hard to keep one’s Kamae, the postures you keep in the Japanese martial art I practiced for years, and that still inspires me. This year, the motto I wrote on my bathroom mirror still came into help a few times: Wait, what do you need right now? Look for it in the right places. A good Kamae. Building that muscle. Practice immediately.
Voilà. It’s a call to listen, to emotional regulation, not to fall into your old ways. It’s a yogic thing. And it worked.
In general, one characteristic that I have always admired in people is friendliness, the ability to naturally strike conversation with strangers. That openness is the contrary of that state where you don’t want to talk with anyone, and you are well enclosed in your shell, yet so deeply craving connection. It’s being introverted, I get it, and I used to be the biggest introvert. I still am one in a way. Yet, since moving to Pigneto, I guess, friendliness came easier and easier for me, I believe thanks to some friends who showed me how it’s done, but putting my own personal spin on it.
Marseille brought this trait to a whole other level. For starters, I’m in a very good mood all the time. But I feel everyone else is in a good mood in Marseille as well, I get so many stories of people who say how easy it is to make friends in the second city of France!
Also, I feel no one there is ever that guarded. It’s true that this is a dangerous place, especially in some specific areas at night, but as Italian women, we go around in an armour of sorts, knowing we will be watched, harassed by men. Their stare is constantly on us, the roles are pretty rigid still, and we bring with us the weight of that stare. Is not that Marseille is the perfect place, obviously, but it’s truly a weight that many here seem to carry much less; women as a whole seem to be much less burdened by that, and this is so refreshing.
I distinctly remember this with my friend Matilde (the witchy friend) in Malmousque, my favourite rocky beach in Marseille. She used to be very wary of men striking up conversation, being used to the Italian modality of men being insistent and annoying at the first hint of attention. And then day after day she gradually relaxed, and started enjoy chatting freely. And in her, I saw myself so profoundly, and realized how healing a place like Marseille could be.
From that intuition came the word (the other one alongside “temperance”) for next year: unencumbered. That of not necessarily carrying the weight of a culture along, or at least the parts that keep you closed off.
The idea for next year is to work on myself in the areas of my life as a motorcycle. Getting rid of everything that unburdens me, tight control in some areas that would instead need more relaxation, substituting some not-so-great habits with great ones, tending with love and care to the parts of my body, mind and spirit that need healing, understanding with clarity what to prioritise to make everything good and well. I’ll be the mechanic for my love-fuelled machine.
