Guest Writer: DAWN LINDSON, Act Intern

Photos: Tracey Whitefoot, Inna Schutts, William Ranieri

After a busy day leaving behind a sunny cultural island that has plenty of natural beauty and so much Art to explore…  In case you hadn’t guessed, the place I was describing is Majorca!  I was pleased to arrive home in time to catch Roberto Alborghetti’s Ghost Bus 2019 performance live at the Bartons Garage.  I had heard so much about him through ACT and how he has a special interest in Beeston so I was very curious to learn more.

He spoke of how he sees colours, I found this fascinating and it prompted questions from the audience.  He said “Colours are our energy…..our life!” A comment I couldn’t agree more with, especially since I have a craze for colourful things.  I guess we all see colours differently and his perspective was quite unique.  Roberto loves the colour red and when he first came to Nottingham he saw that in the bricks, which for him are a symbol of structure and history of our city. This became the inspiration for his first production called “Colours of Nottingham.”  He collaborated with singer Jeanie Barton (who I met at my first ACT event) to create visual and musical films which will be on her new CD album called “Moments of Clarity”.

However the things that I found struck a chord with me most were listening to him discuss some of the 6 books he had recently published.  One of them “Dining with Pope Francis” covers his passion of food for survival and how we are what we eat.  As a world we waste so many consumer goods which is totally unnecessary and is having negative effects on our world.  Roberto described how he believes food waste is the biggest problem in our world today and said Italy wastes 40 billion euros of food each year.

He also aims to have a positive influence on school children with his “Social or Dis-Social?” guide.  He rightly acknowledges that the use of digital technology is a great source of education when used appropriately.  However, 90% of children are using it inappropriately by spending too much time chatting online and playing violent video games.

He has concerns that children as young as 6 are losing as much as 4 hours a day on their smartphones, this also increases to 6 hours for teenagers.  Not only is this causing negative social effects but they are being affected by blue light.  He is concerned that some people are allowing the digital world to destroy their lives and recognises the importance of a sensible approach to using the internet.  The important message he wants to get across to school children, is to use their smartphone to better themselves and create a better world for everyone to live in.

It was interesting listening to him having a discussion with the presenter William Ranieri live on stage and I also enjoyed watching the videos which were displayed on the large screen.  He has a very imaginative approach to taking photographs, which would inspire photographers all around the world.  However, he is not just a great Artist but also a great influencer on important sociological issues the world is facing.  He finished the evening by answering questions from the audience.  I will look out for his next event in Beeston and perhaps next time I will be able to meet him in person.

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Guest Writer: MARYSIA ZIPSER, Founder of ACT Group

Last week Beeston welcomed the annual return of ACT special guest Roberto Alborghetti from Italy who is the official biographer to Pope Francis, visual artist, best selling author and award winning environmental journalist.

During a 4 day organised program, a publicised event took place at The Garage / Gallery events venue at Bartons Chilwell on Wednesday 5th June – ‘The Ghost Bus 2019 – In Conversation with…Roberto Alborghetti’.  It was a fascinating and engaging evening hosted by native Italian journalist and Director-Producer, William Ranieri from TheLatestTV in Brighton.

As a visual artist Roberto had already started, nearly 20 years ago, a project called “Laser/Actions” focusing on images of natural cracks and scratches, urban and industrial tokens and materials.

Roberto explained about how, while touring the classic vehicles at Bartons during his first 2014 visit, he chanced upon the Ghost Bus, a 1956 URR 865 Reliance, which had spent 20 years slumbering in an open Suffolk field. He started to take macro photographs of what he ‘saw’ in the old vehicle – Lands, Horizons, Seas, Skies.

He left inspired to make a short film about the Ghost Bus which was premiered at Bartons March 2015 when the old bus was stage illuminated. In October that year, the film was shown in Piancastagnaio Tuscany during a week long ACT tour by eight Beeston friends. His Ghost Bus images have since spawned designs for fashion like The Volcano Dress, textiles and wine labelling.

The Ghost Bus ‘Roads’ Project is now touring.

Since 2016 Roberto has been collaborating with Beeston singer/songwriter Jeanie Barton to create visual and musical films including Colours of Nottingham Streets to “Can I Think of Love?” and Images of Beeston to “Soon”, featured on Jeanie’s newly launched CD album ‘Moments of Clarity’.

He talked about Pope Francis and latest best seller “Dining with Pope Francis” translated into 15 languages, food and food waste and his guide books for children – the ‘Social or Dis-Social’ boom and one about the use of smartphones and cyberbullying.  When asked about what Robin Hood means to him today, Roberto answered “…positive rebellion and courage.”

The Mayor of Broxtowe, Councillor Michael Brown said, “I was pleased to be invited to this event and was fascinated by the excellent work.  It’s delightful to see the creative community bringing events like this to our Borough.”

The whole conversation with film/music clips and stills was LIVE streamed and can be seen via https://www.facebook.com/artculturetourism/

For further information about Roberto Alborghetti and The Ghost Bus events please see www.artculturetourism.co.uk Email:  events@artculturetourism.co.uk .

https://robertoalborghetti.wordpress.com/