eBook “Maria and all the Grannies of the World”

Free e-book

Hi NanaHood friends,

I received a lovely e-book from an artist who lives in London but is from Italy (his mother told him he should share the e-book with me). His name is Luca and rather than explain the story of his digital art and how he came to write this book (which you and your grandchildren will enjoy) I will let him tell you. It’s an honor to introduce you Luca M. Damiani. FYI- The Italian word for Nana is Nonna.

Hi. First of all, I hope you and your families are well during this difficult and strange time we are all living. 

It is indeed a very strange and difficult time for us humans. My name is Luca, I am an artist and when times are so strange and difficult it can feel useless and almost unnecessary to keep making art; but I do think it is important, maybe even more important than usual, that we do so. The story of Nonna Maria has been created during the first three months of the global outbreak of the Coronavirus Covid-19 in 2020. This is a period full of anxiety, of isolation, of distance between families and between friends; it is a moment in time of pain and worries in terms of emotions, health, finances as well as what the future might bring. But it is so even more important to keep hope and love at the centre of our thoughts and our days.

I am Italian but I wrote, co-illustrated and designed the story from Hastings in the UK, which is where I live. I worked together with my nephew Nicola (17yo) who has been doing an internship within my art studio (www.lucadamiani-art.com), and he wonderfully co-illustrated the book with me from Italy where he lives. We wanted to create a recipe book in memory of my granny and his great-granny “Maria Margherita”. 

The Origin of the Book

After Nicola went back to Italy in February 2020 to visit his mother Mara (my sister) and our family there, we kept working at distance on the recipe book. But then, as things changed so suddenly and quickly in Italy and all around the world, I started reflecting on what my granny had done at another very and even more difficult time during the Second World War. And then I thought about what my mother (and Nicola’s granny) Graziella, who is a “just” retired doctor and currently helping both as a grandmother with her cooking as well as helping-out with medical consultancies; or what Luisa (Nicola’s other granny, who is a nurse and who sadly just lost her brother due to Covid-19) is doing too, and what many other people are doing to help one another all around the world, all in their own different ways. I felt that I then wanted to create a children’s picture-book to show how resilient, kind and resourceful people can be when times are hard. I hope this little book can give a little hope and show us how a little kindness can lift our spirits. 

So this book was firstly for my granny and my mother (and the character in this story actually looks like my mum!), for my dad and immediate family in Italy; and also for my dear older uncles and aunties and cousins & families who live in the “red-zone” of North Italy (Milan, Turin, Como and Parma) where the coronavirus is widespread and who have had to stay all day, everyday inside their homes for six weeks already to try and help stop it spreading more. But not only for them, it is also for all my friends and families in Italy, in the UK, in Spain, in France, in China, in Germany, in the US, in Canada, in SouthKorea, in New Zealand.

A Love Letter

This book is a love letter for all the people and elders that the Coronavirus is taking away from us – it is a tragedy for many communities who are losing a generation – parents and grand-parents – and their most vulnerable dear family members. Our hearts break that within this loss, people aren’t able to be physically close to those who get sick and are at the hospitals; no chance for a face to face good-bye, a last hug, a last kiss.

Simple Things

My granny believed in the simple good things in life, and how important it is to share the love we have, whatever that is and whenever is possible. Even more so in difficult times. She shared her love (and her food!) with me, and so here in this book I share that with you too, and write some of her spirit into this story. It is for all of us, for all our families who are going through this strange and difficult time, who are and must stay apart, who feel lonely and worried in their isolation. We all are in this together, everywhere in the world; even if some are more impacted than others, we all are in this together. And so, let’s be there for each other in all the different ways we can, no matter how big or small.

I do hope you will like the book and visual audiobook and please share it and help sharing the love with friends and family.

Yours, Luca

Maria and all the Grannies (Nonnas) of the World : A story of kindness during the 2020 Coronavirus crisis from Luca Damiani on Vimeo.

Bio:

Luca M Damiani is a Media Artist  and an Associate Lecturer Graphic & Media Design at the University of the Arts in London.

Luca practices internationally in the fields of the Arts, Digital Media and Visual Culture. He works and experiments with creative techniques such as illustration, digital tech, animation, photography, coding and mix-media. His current research focus is on the role of arts&design in health, neuroscience and neuro-otology, all currently based on an investigation of his sensorial disability and hearing&balance disorders.

Published artist-author of several books and academic articles, in his personal research and practice, Luca has also collaborated with many institutions and leading organisations, such as Computer Arts Society, Mozilla Foundation, VFX company Framestore, The Walt Disney Company, NGO Amnesty International, BBC, TATE, V&A, Hearing Health Foundation, British Medical Journal and Medical Humanities, etc.

I hope you will like the visual audiobook, and here is also an open-access link to a 4 language-versions of the story (#English, #Italian, #Spanish and #French ):https://issuu.com/lucamdamiani

www.lucadamiani-art.com

#nonna #granny #nana

I hope you find Luca’s story as fascinating as I did. Grandmother love is world wide!

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