It was back in 1997 that I first knew about the sculptures of the great artist Niki de Saint Phalle (1930-2002) in an exhibition at Culture Center CCBB (Centro Cultural Banco do Brasil) in Rio de Janeiro and since then I have been fallen in love with her astonishing art. I saw some of her work in other museums around the world but never had the chance to enter the amazing "Giardino dei Tarocchi (Capalbio, Italy)"; well, in May, 2012, the dream came true!
| The reunion with the HERMIT was wonderful and revealing! | |
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| 1998 - Centro Cultural BB | 2012 - Giardino dei Tarocchi |
Strolling through the alleys of the enchanted garden I was touched by the immense effort she must have made during the 20 years the monuments took to be built. I realized what no one had ever thought about it: this place is truly the World Capital of Tarot. There’s nothing like this! Yes! I must bring out such insight to spread the ideia that we could have a world meeting place, a sacred ground focusing only on Tarot. If I already love her art, now I’m eternally grateful for the building of a park dedicated to the Arcana cards, a place which spiritual and artistic power one could only grab by walking around such magic ground. I could talk a lot more about it, but we better see the pictures and watch the video. Enjoy it!
The Tarot Garden is a legacy for mankind because it brings together culture and mysticism in its higher artistic manifestation. The park belongs to all of us, it’s an outdoor art gallery and it welcomes people of all ages and creeds. For many years Niki de Saint Phalle has lived inside the “Empress”, whose structure was changed to be a real (fantastic!) home. From its windows (eyes and breasts) the artist could see her amazing garden being built, step by step. The park has structures, monuments and sculptures that represents the 22 major arcana cards.
Niki de Saint Phalle wrote in 1997: “This garden was made with love, wild enthusiasm, obsession and most of all faith. As in all fairy tales, before finding the treasure, I met on my path, dragons, sorceres, magicians an the Angel of Temperance… I also felt it was my destiny to make this garden no matter how great the difficulties. Nothing could stop me… Today I see these difficulties as part of the initiation [in the spiritual world]”. The artist-builder has left a will stipulating that nothing could change or added, that everything should remain under the inspiration and vision that she had while visiting the Guel Park (Barcelona, Spain) in 1955, and Bomarzo Garden (Viterbo, Italy).
While wandering through the monuments I’ve had the pleasant surprise to see several school tours (from elementary to middle school) with their teacher talking about Art History because the park was built with the artist bare hands, renowned worldwide for its so peculiar art (traces of Naive with Gaudi art). On the other hand I noticed that they were also learning what each tarot card represented in divination! So, I wondered: “New generation of tarot readers?”
I spent hours absorbed into the bucolic landscape, going back and forth to see every little piece, and even today, seeing the pictures, I find details that went unnoticed to me in that sunny afternoon full of charm and magic. The garden is also an invitation to meditation, for silence (in some areas) with the whispering leaves that inspirer the purest desire to be in tune with every Arcanum card that lies there and asking to them: "How tomorrow is going to be? What will be my fate? Can I reach self-knowledge?".
World's Tarot Capital: GIARDINO DEI TAROCCHI - TAROT GARDEN
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| Nei Naiff received an award | books | congress | oracle's gate | meetings |
