My passion for Tibet was born many many years ago when my father visited this Country in the 1988 for a trekking experience: he brought me back some Tibetan handmade moniles and lots and lots stories about a very special, mystic place of which I didn’t know anything before his trip. A thousand of multicolour little flags with handmade written prayers blowing in the wind in front of the Kailash mountain and the original tradition to put butter yak instead of milk in their tea, their kindness and poverty , their proud to be Tibetan . He brought also lots and lots of slides – yes, because at those times slides were very common as they were cheaper than photos to be delopped and above all it was a simple way to create an occasion to meet new people during the slide show and to comment together unknown Countries with the help of the traveller who first visited them: a sort of a storyteller we would say nowadays – after this first time my father went back two other more times and had the chance to see the bad change China invasion had on Tibetan lifestyle.
Just in occasion of this tragic event I planned a slide show and photo exhibition by my husband restaurant in Pistoia, of course, and invited Enzo Gualtiero Bargiacchi the man who dedicated most part of his life studying and finding out news about Ippolito Desideri, the Jesuit monk born in Pistoia – and my father: so, that evening I put together three men from Pistoia, three centuries later with a common passion: Tibet . At the end of the 2017 when Pistoia has been crowned Italy’s capital of culture Ippolito Desideri is finally under the highlights with this exhibition about how he was important for the new scientific discoveries and also because he was the first monk who didn’t want to evangelize a people but thought he was fine with its own religion , the Buddhism , as a perfect faith for this population and so , great honour to a man who in 1716 visited and studied a new language as the Tibetan – to be able to discuss with the Dalai Lama of the time their faith and writing the first vocabulary from Tibetan to Italian – and who believed in the freedom of religions : no one is the best , all of them are right.
A great example of interfaith indeed – grazie Ippolito e grazie Enzo Guatiero Bargiacchi who first in Pistoia saw in this monk a modern updated open mind man, for too long time forgotten and neglected from the Roman Church who didn’t accept such a liberal and different way of thinking.
”Think different!” is one of our most popular slogan in 2017: padre Ippolito Desideri was already ahead three centuries ago!
You could visit this exhibition in Pistoia (in via dei Rossi, 7) called “La rivelazione del Tibet” until 2017 December 10th
FREE ENTRANCE
Tues – Fri 3:00 -7:00 pm
Sat and Sunday 10:00 am -18:00 pm
https://www.fondazionecrpt.it/
