I met John Mpaliza for the second time in May 2015. A year has passed but he was still walking, carrying his backpack, his rainbow-coloured flag and his wooden stick. He reached Bassano on foot. He stayed there for one day and one night and then started walking again in order to reach his next destination: Udine. The next meeting was on the 24th of May, which in Italy coincides with an important anniversary: Italy’s entrance into the first world war. So, Bassano was crowded with people assembled for this commemoration. When John appeared on the main square, he seemed to me like an alien creature, calm and peaceful, miles away from the din of the fanfare.
John is a “Peace Walking Man“. His body is part of a campaign for civil rights. His body is a “migrant body”. Indeed, right now he’s walking from Reggio Emilia to Helsinki in the name of peace, in the name of hope. This past year he was invited as special guest for Migrant Bodies. He told us his whole story, from which I made a radio feature. This time he delivered his message through a short video-interview.
Here is it. Enjoy!
Migrant Bodies | The Peace Walking Man
May 2015, Bassano del Grappa
Video by Valentino Martelozzo
Interview by Anna Trevisan
Tags: John Mpaliza, Migrant Bodies, Peace Walking Man
» Migrant Bodies, Projects, Watch » Video | Migrant Bodies: John Mpaliza
She is currently a writer, a blogger and a free-lance journalist. She graduated in philosophy in Venice, where she also worked with the Venice Biennale - D.M.T. (Dance Music Theatre), Art and Architecture for 7 years. From theatre, her first passion, she migrated towards the world of visual arts, writing reviews and critiques for almost fifteen years. After her master’s degree in Communication at Il Sole 24 Ore newspaper in Milan and, subsequently, her masters degree in Intercultural Studies at the University of Padua, she has continued to write for several different publications.
She is editor and contributor for Finnegans online and contributor for CULT-Web TV.
Her blog is: Multiculti. Just another day on earth.
She published:
Album Groggia (Curated by) Venice Council, 2010;
Interensemble. Il punto sui trent’anni (Curated by) CLEUP University Press, 2015;
“In viaggio verso dove” (in the antology: Tre d’amore, Tracciati Editore, 2014;
“La bicicletta” in the antology: Dammi Cinque, Tracciati Editore, 2017;
"Un treno nella storia. La Grande Guerra in Valsugana. Quattro storie", Ass. Culturale Platform Z, 2018.
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