Our interview with Fumettibrutti on the occasion of Lavazza Qualità Rossa’s 50th anniversary

6 years ago

50 years ago, among social and cultural changes, Lavazza invented Qualità Rossa in Turin, becoming the symbol of that daily moment of pleasure that we all indulge in. Since then the world has changed and, for the 50th anniversary of the blend, Lavazza has taken the opportunity to recount a different, new, more open, inclusive and multicultural Italy.

This is how the project “Tutta l’Italia in un caffè – un viaggio lungo 50 anni” was born, a real journey through our country to discover not only the places, but above all to discover new young Italian talents. Starting from Catania to Rome, Bologna, Trieste and Turin, Lavazza presents us the stories of Josephine Yole Signorelli aka Fumettibrutti, the Roman actor Phaim Bhuiyan, Madame, the captain of the national women’s soccer team Sara Gama and Samuel.

To reach an even wider audience, the project “Tutta l’Italia in un caffè – un viaggio lungo 50 anni” has been declined in a television format entitled “Nuove Strade“, which will air on Italia 1 from October 12 to 16, and in the song “Nuove Strade” signed by some of the best emerging artists of the Italian music scene.

We at Collater.al participated in the event dedicated to the 50th Anniversary of Lavazza Qualità Rossa and we took the opportunity to ask some questions to one of the protagonists of this project, Josephine Yole Signorelli aka Fumettibrutti. Don’t miss our interview below.

Tell us about yourself and how Fumettibrutti was born?

I am Josephine Yole Signorelli, aka Fumettibrutti, and the choice to call myself Fumettibrutti was a bit random and a bit thought out. In practice it happened that I realized that by drawing and writing I could tell more things and much more freely, this led me to use an expressive style. Then, when one of my professors saw my drawings, he told me that the comics, especially the font was ugly. It was at that moment that I thought that the name Fumettibrutti could work.
It’s a name that warns you, puts you in front of reality: either you like my comics or you don’t like them, or you stop at the appearance or you decide to go further.
It’s a concept that I like a lot, also applied to our society. You don’t have to like me, especially us women, we don’t have to fit in, we can even bother, without feeling guilty.

How one of your artwork comes to life?

Technically, for the posts on ig each vignette is an A4 sheet. Now I have evolved and I also use the i-Pad, but I tend to take an A4 sheet and make a square in the middle that I divide in the vignettes I decide to do. When I finish it I get up and for twenty minutes I do something else, if after that time, looking at the vignette still makes me laugh, then it means that it’s okay, if not I start again.

That’s what happened with the cartoon of butterflies in the toilet, obviously it was a bitter laugh. That was the cartoon that launched me, it made two and a half million views in one day.

Both in the case of “Romanzo Esplicito” and “P. La mia adolescenza trans” you speak openly about yourself by sharing your story. What was it like to write them and what was the feedback?

In the case of “Romanzo Esplicito” I focused more on the love story, touching also the theme of pleasure, which is fundamental in my stories and in my works, because I really think that every time I make love I take back a part of my body. It’s something you do for yourself, with sex, but also by taking pictures, it’s a way to celebrate your body.
But the real victory was that many girls also saw themselves in “P. La mia adolescenza trans”, even though they didn’t know my condition. Also because it often happens that some people are tranny without knowing it and that’s why it’s important to talk about it, even if in the end the only condition you need to be tranny is to decide to be one, without anyone’s approval. Even today you still have to follow a psychological path, as if someone had to approve my choices, things if I needed someone else to be me.

Seen from the outside the world of comics seems almost exclusively male. You have the opportunity to experience it from the inside, what can you tell us about it?

We had a demonstration with the poster I did for Lucca that showed a tranny girl who decided not to do tucking, that is the practice with which you hide your genitals between your legs to look flat. So, in addition to inviting every person with a penis to try to hide it between their legs, I wanted to touch the theme of hiding, of having to hide something to be yourself, which happens especially for women.
Here, seeing so many negative comments for that poster, also attacking the kind of drawing, when I am openly Fumettibrutti, showed how the world of comics is still seen as a nerdy and very closed world.
Even from other colleagues, I did not receive the support I thought, it seems impossible to be happy for the successes of others, while I am happy and relaxed and I am also happy for the successes of others. For me, this is what it should be like among colleagues.
I have to be honest, what happened with the poster for Lucca was really bad and I was sorry, but in the end, what matters to me is to see who my work really came to.

https://www.instagram.com/p/CE9WWykqUlX/

On January 29th you posted a cartoon showing a girl wondering “what’s wrong with me”? What advice would you give to those who are living the same situation?

First of all to analyze your situation, from your age to the environment in which you live, the pattern in which you live and understand if you want to stay there. Like me, I would like everyone else to feel free from the patterns.

However, if sometimes you feel that way, wondering what’s wrong with me, you have to try not to suffocate it, on the contrary you have to try to live it. This thing of always having to be positive, of always having to smile I think it can cause the opposite effect, especially in the younger ones. So my advice is live the pain, don’t suffocate it, it is to free yourself from what makes you feel bad. What you feel is good.

The case of a few weeks ago linked to the story of Maria Paola Gaglione and Ciro has shown how Italy and, sometimes even the press, is not yet able to deal with issues related to transsexualism, starting from the knowledge of the right terms to use. What do you think can help a change and encourage greater awareness?

Look, I’ve noticed this too, thanks to a friend who writes pieces for big newspapers and it’s often bounced back because it’s not the big name, when in fact, as a transgender person, she could talk about these issues better than anyone else.
The only thing I can say, apart from giving transgender people a chance to talk, is to avoid having to always get to the tragedy.
The case of Ciro and Maria Paola is a tragedy and we must learn not to misgendering people or use the right pronouns because someone dies because at that point we failed.
When I realized that I could bring P.’s story to the general public, which was a story that I had totally erased and I could go on without coming out, I realized that it gave me the opportunity to say that we are here, we are many and we are among you.
So, I would say that we should give more and more space for our stories, even by brand. Well, as Lavazza that calls us and gives us the space to tell our stories.
Quindi, direi che bisognerebbe dare sempre più spazio alle nostre storie, anche da parte di brand. Ben venga Lavazza che chiama noi e ci dia lo spazio per raccontare le nostre storie.

How was working with Lavazza?

I, working with Feltrinelli, was already willing to confront a type of audience that is not mine and is not what I have built on Instagram over the years.
If they give you space where you can talk about yourself, but also about many other things, managing to get to a number of people you never imagined you could reach, well come on, for me Lavazza’s was a good move.
If I can even manage to recover one more star, I am happy.