Giovanni Gaggia's Embroidered Question: 'Com'è il cielo in Palestina?'

Giovanni Gaggia's ongoing project 'Com'è il cielo in Palestina?' began in 2023 with an embroidered question in Arabic on a worn blanket. The work has evolved into a relational art process: the question was physically forwarded to people living in Palestine. In spring 2024, the first response came from Mahmood, recounting a dialogue with his father in Gaza ending with 'We are sick with hope.' Gaggia has since created at least 15 tapestries on blankets, with the word 'hope' recurring despite the UN's conclusion of genocide in the area. The project has expanded into exhibitions, actions, debates, volunteer initiatives, and a book, spreading across Marche, Piemonte, Lombardia, and Veneto. Men and women have embroidered Arabic words from a letter Khaled wrote to Silvia Severini aboard the first Global Sumud. The composition was fragmented into a hundred parts and hoisted on boats of the last flotilla, except one carrying a banner with Gaggia's embroidery: 'Restiamo umani' (Let's stay human) in Arabic, a homage to Vittorio Arrigoni, killed in Gaza fifteen years ago. Gaggia also thanks Marco, Vittorio, and Maurizio—three Marche natives aboard the Flotilla—and all those arrested.