Ltrue beauty is kindness, and being kind means listening without judging, and without pressuring. They started from these reflections 200 students from the Cabrini primary school and the Munari secondary school in Milan to design the Christmas lights lit in recent days in the surroundings of the two schools, in via Forze Armate and in via delle Betulle in Municipality 7, in Milan.
The Christmas lights in via delle Forze Armate, in Milan, designed by children as part of the Wonder Why project.
The illuminations were created as part of the Wonder Why project, promoted by Hines, Borio Mangiarotti and Bain Capital Special Situations and part of the A scuola di community program.
For the drawings of the 14 illuminations (created under the guidance of the ADCI Art Director Club Italiano) the children chose themes very dear to them: l‘hug, care, bonds, music. Themes that were the culmination of a journey carried out in class with the psychotherapist Loredana Cirillo, a member of theMinotaur Institute. “I am fifth and eighth grade children, who are therefore about to face the end of a school cycle, the transition to a new phase”, he explains. «We tried to stimulate them on themes that could guide them in the designs for the illuminations».
In the Christmas lights, the need for contact emerges
What emerged clearly, both among the youngest and among the older ones, «is the need to feel, in the minds of adults, that there is a space to welcome their fragilities, without fear of disappointing them». Space that, unfortunately, often isn’t there. To give an example: starting from beauty, “the children started from the external one, from the anxiety of living up to the imposed models, to arrive at internal beauty”, continues the psychotherapist. “For them, beauty is the possibility of meeting kind adults who know how to help them in need, who let them talk about themselves and also about their fragilities».
Already from fifth grade children, the struggle to endure the pressure of adult expectations emerges strongly. «They would like to be asked, “How are you?” and not just “How did it go?”. And the responsibility lies not only with parents but with an entire society that banishes pain, does not tolerate stumbling and pretends that it doesn’t exist.” Children wish they could trust adults, but they can’t. «They need contact, and therefore hugs, and also care. Because even when you grow up, there is always a need for care”, concludes Cirillo.
iO Donna © ALL RIGHTS RESERVED