Culture

Come aqua – The Negative Capability Festival

The grief of the end of vacation must be overcome with an activity that lightens its weight.

This year, Casachiesi chose to shake off the sadness of a summer that’s about to end by participating in a small yet incredibly rich festival to which we were invited, organized by a great friend, radio host, and writer, Matteo Caccia.

The festival, titled “Como aqua – la capacità negativa,” was organized by Matteo in collaboration with Claudio Angelini and Vania Vicino. It took place from September 6 to 9 in a small town near Forlì, Pianetto di Galeata, along the Bidente valley in Emilia Romagna—a region that, more than any other, represents the absolute symbol of good living for our country.

The idea for the title of the event came from a phrase by the poet John Keats, who, in a letter to his brother at the beginning of the 19th century, defined negative capability as the human ability to live with uncertainty, mystery, and doubt without immediately seeking the false certainty of decision-making.

This theme played throughout the weekend among the hands of very different guests who visualized, played music, chatted, laughed, read poetry, and philosophized about it with grace, irony, and wisdom, each according to their own peculiarities and experiences.

The result was a succession of varied encounters, at times surprising (I believe even for the organizers themselves), during which Nazim and I, knowing some of the invited guests, were spectators but also, if such a definition can ever be acceptable within the context of a cultural event, supporters.

There were Daniela Collu and Massimo Cirri, who conversed about mental health and freedom; a dialogue between pianist Gloria Campaner and performer Lidia Carew, after which Lidia improvised an emotional dance to the concluding notes of the pianist. We all had lunch together, entertained by comedian Paolo Labati. We listened to the sharp reflections of Francesca Cavallo, author of Good Night Stories for Rebel Girls, interviewed by Michele Dalai. We witnessed the interview by Matteo Caccia with Elena Zacchetti, deputy editor of Il Post, a highly-followed online newspaper in Italy, who explained the behind-the-scenes of managing an editorial team. Finally, there were the reflections of theologian and writer Vito Mancuso, and an explanation of how poetry works and what it serves, through the words of poet Cristiano Poletti.

Thanks to this special “bridge position,” we experienced the festival on both sides of the imaginary curtains of each event, sharing with all the guests the moments before and after their performances, evening chats, and meals.

Indeed, as we said, Romagna never offers its gifts unless they are well accompanied, and the small festival circus rested on a highly respectable hospitality experience: La Locanda and Osteria La Campanara (featured in the Michelin guide and the Slow Food snail rating).

The inn and restaurant offer their hospitality to festival participants and visitors interested in tasting the delicacies of a strictly local cuisine and enjoying the welcoming “widespread hotel”—rooms and cottages acquired and renovated over the years by Alessandra and Roberto, owners and creators of La Campanara.

What in 2005 was a collapsed stone rectory overrun by brambles is now a delightful garden where one can have lunch and dinner under the walls of the old Church of Santa Maria dei Miracoli, cared for by this couple of gentle and utterly lovable hosts who love what they do and do what they love…

Don’t miss next year’s edition! Stay tuned…

Betti