This project stems from a new personal experiment of mine: transforming a personal story and a historical event—in this case, September 8th, 1943—into a work of art.  

Much has been said about the partisans, about the resistance of civilians, especially women, but few remember those young men born in 1922.

Those twenty‑year‑old soldiers, full of ideals for their homeland, full of enthusiasm and courage, did not flee cowardly like King Victor Emmanuel III and his loyal followers.  

They were young men who did not retreat at Porta San Paolo, even though they knew they were risking their lives. Instead, they put up strong resistance, helping to liberate Rome, the Eternal City.

Among those young men was my great‑uncle, Alfredo Solla, a handsome dark‑haired boy who, despite everyone urging him to run and save himself, chose not to.

This is the story that emerges from my woodcuts.  

Through the creation of these works, powerful emotions and an immense youthful ferment come to the surface. I sensed how deeply many of these young men loved their country as a place of belonging. Most of them came from rural areas; they cherished their traditions, their customs, their food, and identified with their homeland. They loved it so much that they could not bear the idea of a foreign, invading people colonizing it and stripping it of every freedom.

Unfortunately, even today, “Putin’s war” confirms that despite the massacres committed throughout the many wars in the world, power still seeks to subjugate peoples, depriving them of their fundamental freedoms.

“Freedom”

Many associate it with an ideology, but for me it is not so.  

Freedom does not identify with someone or something; it is interior. It is that delicate balance that forms between emotion and reason, merging soul and mind. From this fusion, art is born.

Freedom: an infinite word… the dream and necessity o

f the human being.

  Tatiana Balchesini