Our museum's collection of events has been enriched by our participation in Fieracavalli Verona 2021. We too experienced this event as a crescendo of emotions, which began even before we left.
But let's take it easy.
For the first time the Horse Museum Foundation participated as an actor in this event recognised as the temple of the horse. We started as a spectator when Maria was little, and her passion for horses grew with her, and today we presented the prizes of our contest inside one of the halls of Fieracavalli.
The exciting contest awards ceremony
Thanks to our collaboration with FISE and the exciting Horsemotions prize, we handed over our certificates and books to the winners of the "Little artists express their horses" contest, which we launched in collaboration with the Italian-Chinese association Asiart and under the patronage of FISE.
Our winner Flavio is a sweet little boy who arrived in Verona with his mother from Cerveteri and immediately became our mascot. We must admit that we were surprised by his resourcefulness and tenacity. Thanks to his parents and his mother Daniela who guide and support him in his great passion for horses.
Horsemotions is the award created by Gianluigi Giovagnoli, a FISE veterinarian, for artistic works created by horse enthusiasts of all ages attending equestrian centres that express the most beautiful emotions that bind them to their horse.
Gianluigi Giovagnoli is a man with a special sensitivity who oversaw the award ceremony in such a way that the emotional involvement never waned. He was the one who called the children and young people to be rewarded and to each of them he gave his own touch of originality, affection and support that really filled our hearts. The love of horses goes beyond any kind of obstacle at any age and how the heart sees beyond what the eye cannot see.
Giovanni read some compositions written during the lock down that were true hymns to love, the most sincere and pure love that can overcome any difficulty. We were moved to feel the depth and strength that the relationship between horse and child or man can give.
And we, together with Horsemotions, want to be the spokespersons for this intense feeling between pony and child, between horse and man. And our contest also has this objective, but we don't limit ourselves to sporty children.
Our contest is designed to highlight how important and educational horses can be for children. It's no coincidence that this is the very first mission of our museum.
A welcome surprise for all of us was the intervention of FISE president Marco di Paola, who thanked all the children and instructors for taking part. We exchanged some ideas with him and he complimented us on all our initiatives.
Also because the next World Championships of Attacks and Eventing at Pratoni del Vivaro next September fall in conjunction with the Italy-China Year of Culture and Tourism.
A big thank you to FISE that made participation possible with our contest, to Gianluigi Giovagnoli with his heart of gold and to all the impeccable organisation that made the event very enjoyable and smooth.
But Fieracavalli always leaves us with many indescribable emotions.
We couldn't miss "Art&cavallo", the art exhibition curated by architect Federica Crestani in collaboration with the Paard Verzameld equestrian art gallery in Amsterdam.
A surprising journey through the magic of the hypereal horse paintings by our friend and great artist Michi Grassi, the winner of the Kep 2020 award with his Friesian Light in the Dark. Some of his paintings were on display and I must admit that Michi delighted us with another painting with a strong emotional impact: a beautiful sorrel horse in semi-darkness. One part of the image is captured with the gaze while the one in the darkness leaves the mind free to imagine and almost create its own reality, everything that cannot be seen.
We met Federica Crestani in the room where her creations, which have given life to the image of Fieravavalli, are exhibited. This year she has chosen to combine horses with water, and the work is perceived as flexible, changing its shape depending on the angle from which it is viewed. And the horse becomes the primordial component of life. It is an allegory of regeneration and fertility.
The novelty this year is the partnership with the equestrian art gallery Paard Verzameld in Amsterdam, thanks to which the exhibition takes on an increasingly international slant, involving artists from all over the world.
Congratulations to Andrea Baleri who won the prize for the painting category with his horse in tempera on photographic paper. His horses express an inner serenity combined with dreamlike dreams. They are animals that make you overcome reality to take you with them into a space-time in which the ties with the earthly world are cancelled. The imaginative contours, the always unrealistically coloured fur and the dismembered and recomposed shapes give you moments of joyful ecstasy.
After the art we went to see all the pavilions, where there were all kinds of horse articles and where the creativity of the manufacturers expressed unthinkable novelties. From saddles, to super bright gold horse cabins, to the detail-oriented design of beautiful saddles, carriages, boots, under saddles and more! All the way to chests transformed into small mobile wine cellars for horse and wine lovers.
We will be back at Fieracavalli next year with lots of other novelties!
We already have in mind a new contest involving China, participation in the World Attacks and Complete Dressage Championships at the Vivaro and who knows how many other events we will participate in!