VALLORIA

Published by DEIA, Jan. 12, 2012


We're so used to hearing that this or that species, animal or plant,
has had to change their eating habits, his way of prosecutors and even his way of life, due to the changes that we, humans, caused in the world. No wonder we talk about industrial restructuring or profesional recycling, and it doesn´t strikes us to reflect on the evolution and personal development of the individual but, instead, with all the people with whom I discussed the matter we have before us have been amazed at the result of our history.

Valloria is a village situated at the western end of the Italian Riviera, the Mediterranean Sea. Here as in many other villages had held a mass exodus of young people to cities in the hope of a better life. Angelo Balestra was one of those that left their home to seek work in the big city and especially in Milan. Every time he returned home he would break down. Of the hundreds inhabitants the village had now there were only 30 elderly, more and more old houses, full of cracks, leaky roofs, etc. Angelo and a few friends took action on the matter and created an association called “The three sources”, in charge of raising funds to repair homes and buildings and to build a small museum. So, after some initiatives they thought that they had to wake Valloria up from it´s slumber: Why not use the doors of the abandoned buildings as murals where paint artist and local artists work to convert the town into something like an open art gallery?

Said and done. The success of the idea has been so enormous that even painters from the United States, Germany, Switzerland and Ireland have asked to participate in what has been called the Village of Painted Doors. Now not only did it increased in population but Valloria is also a place that attracts business and tourism. Art is not only the capacity of expression, but also holds the magic of the human soul capable of transforming loneliness and death into a gathering and into life.

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