Filastrocche della Peste: A Rhyming Diary of COVID-19 Quarantine

Lucio Villani and Daniele Catalli have created 'Filastrocche della Peste' (Plague Nursery Rhymes), a daily illustrated poetic diary chronicling the COVID-19 pandemic in Italy and beyond. Since March 2020, they have been publishing quartains with alternating rhymes on Telegram, Facebook, and Instagram. The project documents key moments: initial danger warnings, lockdown of 'focolaio' zones, nationwide quarantine, and the 'escape from Milan'. Catalli's black-and-white illustrations with ample white space evoke the suspended atmosphere of lockdown. The rhymes address major themes: healthcare struggles, government decrees, and the pervasive 'war on COVID' metaphor, depicting doctors as Spartans with shields bearing the Rod of Asclepius. The diary also covers international developments, particularly in initially skeptical countries like the UK, Brazil, Israel, and the US. Most poignant are the depictions of everyday life: the desolation of quick errands, supermarket visits, loneliness, and uncertainty about the future. The project stands out among quarantine-born artistic experiments for its original perspective and anomalous poetic form.