Silvia Baccanti

 Silvia Baccanti was born in the heart of the Dolomites in 1995 to a mother from Val Badia and a father from Genoa. Since childhood, the mountains and drawing have been constant presences in her everyday life. A graduate of the Academy of Fine Arts in Bologna and the ISIA (Istituto Superiore per le Industrie Artistiche) in Urbino, she is firmly connected to her valley and has experienced first-hand how sometimes, it is precisely distance that helps us look at and better understand our places of origin.

Today Silvia has returned to live in Alta Badia where she works as an illustrator and collaborates with various local organizations and cultural institutions, including the Micurà de Rü Ladin Cultural Institute. An excerpt from her comic book Sëdes, which presents certain passages describing the painful story of the Opzioni in Alto Adige, was published in the magazine Internazionale. 

“Often drawing, mostly in the mountains”. Silvia, this is how you present yourself to the world on social media. But how did your interest in the world of drawing come about?

Drawing has always been my favorite pastime since I was a child. I owe a lot of this to my aunt Meme who was an art teacher and who nurtured this inclination of mine not only by introducing me to the history of art from an early age, but also by providing me with the first tools for drawing. I remember afternoons spent drawing to the rhythm of music with my eyes closed or designing entire galaxies with planets, plants and inhabitants... Then there were my parents, who never said no to buying me a comic book.

You were born and raised in Alta Badia, one of the Ladin valleys in Alto Adige, in a mixed family: a mother from Corvara and a father from Genoa. What did it mean for you to grow up with two cultures and two languages ​​under the same roof?

Having been born and raised in a borderland area, I have always had the feeling of being able to move easily between apparently distant cultural areas, separated by mountains that I prefer to think of as more like door openings than walls. My point of reference environment has always been that of the mountains and I have never thought that the differences between my parents made me less Ladin than my peers. The only difference is perhaps the fact that I started speaking Ladin relatively late, since at home we spoke more in Italian, although constantly “contaminated” with Ladin expressions. I certainly grew up in a house where there were more influences, many different stimuli and plenty of books but never to the detriment of Ladin culture.

Is there a way in which one can be deeply connected to one’s territory in an alternative way, far from the stereotypes that too often restrict, or limit mountain communities?

I think that while everyone is connected to their own territory in an entirely individual way, there are little things like gestures and rituals that connect populations to territories and this is true at any latitude and longitude. Then, in my opinion there is a difference between the internalization and keeping alive of a cultural identity on the one hand, and on the other the turning of folklore into a spectacle for purposes of tourism, for others and not for oneself. I identify myself as Ladin even if, perhaps due to lack of interest, I have never taken part in processions with traditional clothes, for example. However, I have consciously chosen to stay in the valley just as I have chosen to speak much more in Ladin than I used to.

Mountains are also a recurring subject in your illustrations. What is your relationship with them?

My relationship with the mountains is constant: it is the ecosystem in which I live and whose protection I care about.  It’s not just something that I use for my personal well-being, like going for a walk or climbing. Obviously I also like to do other things, but with the mountains it is as if I have the opportunity to see them in a new way every day.

When I was far away from home, I felt the desire to rediscover certain aspects of my native land, such as legends and traditions, but also the everyday beauty of certain landscapes.

Then again, I think that on an anthropological and naturalistic level the so-called “highlands” are both as rich in history and knowledge as they are fragile. Mountains are not an immobile and immutable natural element: seeing “my” landscapes suffer due to climate change and human action has fuelled this desire for rediscovery and resistance. So although I don't know how to do much, I can at least talk about mountains through my work.

In German there is a word, Heimweh, which literally means "homesickness". Did you suffer from it when you were far away from your Valley?

I thought a lot about the concepts of Heimat and Heimweh in my work, but then I always felt at home in the places where I lived. In fact, I felt equally homesick after each move. Ironically, after so many years away, Alta Badia was the place where I had the hardest time adapting. But I felt a strong Heimweh for the mountains and I wanted with all my heart to feel at home here again.

People often talk about the “brain drain”, but in your case you studied outside the region and then returned with a wealth of knowledge and experience. Metaphorically speaking, you were harvesting to then sow and grow in your valley.

Like many of my peers, I felt a sense of loss after graduation and so I decided to temporarily return home while waiting for the next step, and in the end, the next step was to stay in the valley and I have to say that I am enjoying it more than I expected. I had never thought it possible to do a creative job here, but I have had to change my mind and overcome a number of prejudices. Since I came back I have noticed the vast potential for cultural life in Alta Badia, not just for tourists, but also by Ladins for Ladins and for South Tyroleans in general. Compared to when I was a teenager, today there are many more stimuli and interesting initiatives that come from “bottom up” and are also for young people. I like this a lot and I would also like to contribute to this scenario.

Tell me about Sëdes, the comic book dealing with the history of South Tyrol that you created for your master's thesis at the ISIA in Urbino.

Sëdes is a comic book that tells the story of certain salient events in recent South Tyrolean history, such as the annexation to Italy after the First World War and the consequent forced Italianization, but also the story of the Opzioni or Options, according to which all non-Italian-speaking inhabitants were required to choose between emigrating and maintaining their cultural identity or staying and giving up any connection with the German language and culture. These events are little known outside the region but they marked a rather long historical period which has left numerous scars on our land. Stories like this have great narrative potential and with my comic book I have done little more than scratch the surface. This is because themes such as identity, bonds and a sense of belonging are complex and perhaps there is no single answer.

What are your plans for the near future?

This year I have managed to work with some local groups and organisations and I would like to be able to broaden my working horizons while remaining in the valley. I am continuing to collaborate with the Micurà de Rü Ladin Cultural Institute in San Martino in Badia, I work on the after-school program for children at the Circolo Arci in Brunico and then, among other things, there is a working partnership with the Alta Badia Brand.

In October I’m going to start studying part-time in Bologna, where I’m going to attend an “atelierista” course, because I would like to continue working with children organizing other activities and workshops.

In conclusion, what do you wish for your land?

I may sound cynical, but thinking about what is happening globally due to climate change, I wish my land to continue to survive. If I look out of the window, I see trees turning grey because of bark beetles, landslides caused by floods, cars stuck in traffic jams. Here, to my beautiful but also fragile mountain, I wish it to thrive despite everything.