As of Saturday, November 19, the Via Spaventa neighborhood in Milan has two new “Paladins of Dreams,” these are two figures painted by artist La Fille Bertha together with the boys and girls of the UIA project “Wish Mi: Wellbeing Integrated System of Milan.”
Over the past few months, together with ActionAid Italia educators, the artist and the boys and girls involved in the project identified themes capable of telling the identity of an entire neighborhood, but also the dreams of the new generations living in it.
The artwork presented filled the Milanese neighborhood with energy not only thanks to the bright colors and the artist’s geometric and minimal style, but also to the action of the boys and girls, who, after coming up with the concept of the work, took cans and colors themselves, contributing to the creation of the mural. 

Wish Mi showed art as a tool for participation, sharing and dialogue between residents and the city. The talent of La Fille Bertha helped push further the imagination horizons of the boys and girls, who in turn opened an imaginary of symbols and subjects, in a mutual exchange that culminated in “The Paladins of Dreams.”
The nature of the project, co-funded by the European Commission-European Regional Development Fund and developed by the City of Milan, ActionAid Italy, Milan Polytechnic Foundation, Catholic University of the Sacred Heart, and ABCittà Cooperative, is to define the needs and dreams of an active community, whose dreams must be represented by the context that surrounds them and by figures that are totems of hope, just like the paladins represented in the work.
After the mural created in 2021 by Mister Thoms in the Comasina-Bruzzano neighborhood, Wish Mi 2022 returns to reinterpret the role of Milan and the young generations that inhabit it through public art. A wall that will be the backdrop to the walks of an entire neighborhood, it will be the background and starting point of stories yet to be written and dreamed. 

In Santeria Paladini 8 in Milan, on the occasion of the series of meetings organized by Curiouser and Curiouser was guest artist Kensuke Koike, or as he better describes himself, an “alchemist of the image.”
Koike’s work starts from painting; it was in Venice, during his years of studies, that due to circumstances he decided to shift his attention to photographic images, especially those yellowed and abandoned by time, which would lead him to develop a style close to collage, but also to kinetic art, and magic.

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Photography for Kensuke Koike is an object to be transformed, which is why he does not consider a photographer, whose creative process is the result of a moment, of speed of execution. Koike also takes months and months before he is able to find the correct combination and arrangement of elements, in a creative method typical of Japanese art and ritual in general.
From his archive of some 80,000 photos he then begins a journey through sepia-toned subjects and faces, which are cut, torn, superimposed, combined, rotated, giving new meaning to unknown stories. It is the simplicity of how Kensuke’s works work – well documented on Instagram – that draws the viewer in. The way the works unravel and deform create videos that we might find in a “satisfying” section, a result achieved by the precision of the cuts, the manic study of composition and movement.

Among the many moments in December that one could begin to describe with “it’s that time of year again when…,” it is certainly that time of year again when the Pantone color authority company decides what shade will influence the coming year.
For 2023 the color chosen has code 18-1750 and its name is “Viva Magenta.” As can be guessed from the name the color is reminiscent of the primary color, only darker, Pantone in its release describes it as “bold and fearless, a pulsating color whose exuberance promotes a joyful and optimistic celebration. It is a bold color, full of spirit and inclusive of all.”

The pantone executive director also revealed the origin of Viva Magenta: “In this age of technology, we look to draw inspiration from nature and what is real. PANTONE 18-1750 Viva Magenta descends from the red family, and is inspired by the red of cochineal, one of the most precious dyes belonging to the natural dye family as well as one of the strongest and brightest the world has known. Rooted in the primordial, PANTONE 18-1750 Viva Magenta reconnects us to original matter. Invoking the forces of nature, PANTONE 18-1750 Viva Magenta galvanizes our spirit, helping us to build our inner strength.”
Viva Magenta thus takes the place of Very Peri, Pantone of 2022.

Taranto for the third edition has called together some important street artists, with the task of giving the city new works of public art and putting the spotlight on the tradition in street art in the city.
T.R.U.St (Taranto Regeneration Urban and Street) has involved international artists, bringing to thirty-three the number of works created since 2020 in the city, for an exhibition route that touches all the main points of the city.

Among the names that have put the tag on Taranto’s walls are Super A and his cartoon style, the color energy of Spanish artist Anna Taratiel, Etsom and his reimagining of one of the city’s symbols as the dolphin. Claudio Morne offers his sentimental take on figures of reference for the city; Vesod, on the other hand, played on the boundary between figurative and abstract. Other names include Aches, and Joys’ lettering study. Also JDL, IOTA, Alessandra Carloni and Dadospuntocero’s hyperrealism dedicated to climate change issues.
T.R.U.St is again this year one of the certainties to discover the state of street art and its ability to create a dialogue with the urban context and the whole community that lives it.