The making of a silent book:
"Nido" by Carolina Grosa
& Progetto "Sentirsi a Casa"
One of the highlights of this year´s stay in the silent book library in Lampedusa, Italy, was the workshop presenting the beautiful silentbook “Nido”.
A conclusion of a three-year long collaboration between the very talented illustrator Carolina Grosa and a group of migrant women, "Nido" reads as a reflection of what it means to feel at home.
In this interview, Carolina shares her own reflections of the making of this beautiful book.
Carolina Grosa with her book "Nido" outside the library of Lampedusa. Carolina was so generous with her illustrations during the camp, in the background you can also see the wonderful poster she made for the daily announcements!
Carolina Grosa has worked as an illustrator in the publishing industry for almost ten years. - For me, becoming an illustrator was never a concious plan, more of a natural flow. I have always liked to draw, and as a child I was encouraged by the adults around me to continue doing it. For me drawing felt easy, like a game. I became really good at it and found a way to make my passion for illustration into a paying job, she says.
No words means no language and no problems!
“Nido” is Carolina´s third self-published book, and the first one that is silent. The book is handmade, and Carolina has carefully chosen both the format, the paper quality and all the materials. She tells about how the start of the project: - I was contacted by organizations in Valle d´Aosta that was working with migrant women who had a need to be integrated into the social ground of Italy in general, and Valle d´Aosta in particular. The book is the result of us working together over a period of three years.
Because this was a multilingual group, we decided to make it a silent book. That way it would work for everyone, regardless of what languate they speak. No words means no language and no problems, Carolina states, laughing.
Carolina found the silent book format really hard at first, because of her love of working with words. - I love to make the connection between words and pictures, to make them complete one another. Words and pictures can be so perfectly good together! So for me, making a silent book was a challenge, because at first I felt a need for the words. What I did, was to focus fully on the story that was to be told, on the need to communicate something that had a strong, visual impact.
Carlina stresses the fact that the book is not something she did entirely by herself, it is a collaboration with the project “Sentirsi a Casa”. The migrant women shared their stories about migration with her. She then translated their stories into the book “Nido”. The title means “Nest” in Italian, and is an abbreviation of four words from the women´s mother tongues that for them symbolizes “home”.
Pictures from the workshop in Lampedusa where the book was presented. The women in the project shared some of their stories, and all participants shared feelings of what it means to be "home".
Almost an alchemic story
I ask Carolina why she chose a leporello format for the book. – I love the fact that the format is…well it is a little weird, she laughs. It offers many opportunities. You can leaf through it like an ordinary book, but you can also open it so it becomes one big illustration, it can stand upright like a statue… The other reason is that we made it by hand. We worked with serigraphy, which is a printing technique, together with the women. When you make a book, you have to be smart and clever when you plan it. You want to be free with your imagination, but you also have to be able to actually produce it. The leporello format offered us a way to translate the serigraphy works into a physical book. That way, imagination and pragmatism could work together.
Carolina tells me that at first, she was worried that the reader would not understand the story. Her wish is that when people read this book, they will be able to understand the pain and suffering, but also the growth of the main character, and that they are able to reflect on what takes to build a nest, both physically and metaphorically. She did not make it with a specific age group in mind, but wants it to be open to all readers.
She continues: - Of course there are more stories in this book than the ones I were told. I really hope the reader find room for their stories in it. I look forward to working with people who read the book, to get their feedback and to listen to what stories the book inspired in them. They will probably see things I did not whileI was making it. Because the book is inspired by so many people, I expect readers will find different patterns and meanings within the illustrations.-For me, this was almost an alchemic story, Carolina smiles.
The four elements of nature: air, water, fire and earth are all part of the exploration of the main character. The book starts with the birds, the “air”element, goes to water with the boat and the fishes, then the burning of the sun, and then, from the ashes, the earth: A resurrection, the growing of trees and nature until we reach the last page: A philosophical stone that is the egg in the nest, and also the letter “O” from the title.
The illustration from the "Water"-part, and the final illustrations of the nest. "Nido" is an exeptional book that evokes strong emotions in the reader.
Using illustrations to make human connections
Carolina tells how she used her illustration work as a way to connect with, and get to know, the women in the project: - When I first met them, I was afraid they would find me out of place: “Why is this lady with the drawings here?”. I was afraid I would not be able to build the trust needed to go on with the project. But in fact, it was so simple to connect with them through the illustrations, it was amazing! I introduced myself by showing what I can do with my hands, that I have this gift for drawing, for imagination. I tried to be self-ironic about it, as I did not want to come in as a “grand artist”, but as someone that was there to listen and collaborate.
The illustrations came to be in collaboration with the women in the project. – At first, when I showed them my sketches, some were very different. For example, the picture of the element of water was initially a picture of a group of people hunched together on a boat, one of them about to drown. I told the women that I felt I was not in the right place to properly illustrate this kind of situations, and that I wanted their advice. So I decided to draw the different picture, of the fishes in the sea. When I showed this to the women, one of the girl was really shocked by it, but in a positive way. She had arrived by boat in Lampedusa three years earlier. Upon seeing the picture, she started telling her story, which amazed both her social worker and myself, because usually she did not share a lot. She told us that when they were in the boat and the situation was frightening, they suddenly saw a group of whales jumping out of the water, and for them this was a sign that everything was going to be alright, that they would be saved. I then asked another girl if she also arrived by boat. She replied that she came with the birds, on a plane, and I was amazed, because I had already made the picture with the bird.
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In Lampedusa, we got to listen to the participating women´s stories. I tell Carolina that one of the things I really like about the book, is that the main character is portrayed with so much power, just like the women I met from the project.
– Yes, these women are so powerful, she replies, they are the most powerful women that I ever knew. They share these painful and difficult experiences, and I feel so privileged to be able to help telling their stories to more people. I often work in more commercial areas, where making a living out of illustrating often means being able to produce a lot of stuff in as short a time as possible. The human contact this project offered was such a powerful, and completely different, experience for me.
Carolina finishes by telling me she thinks she will make more silent books after this.
Let´s hope she does, "Nido" is a wonderful and important work of art!
Facts about the project and the author:
The Nido- project was funded by the 2021 National Fund for Migration policies, and carried out in collaboration with LaSorgente, EnAip Vda, L´Espirit á l´Envers, Incado and La libellula. It involved over 30 women and their children. Lampedusa was chosen as the place for presentation because of the signivicance both of the island itself and for the silent book library. The goal of this project has been to raise awareness of mutual respect and to underline the importance of reading in border areas.
Carolina Grosa lives in Valle d´Aosta in northern Italy. It is an area that borders to both France and Switzerland and therefore has two official languages, French and Italian. Before "Nido", she has published several books with words, animation movies and many other types of illustrations.