Liquid Memory

On 17 April 2025, In What happens before, By Man on the River

Here we are. After ten years, I’m writing again, telling stories once more.

It’s been ten intense years, full of travel, activities, and experiences. Ten years also filled with silences and losses. A period that led me to live in Norway, especially in the Arctic, and in the Alps, in those places where water is still present, alive, free, not too disturbed—unlike in most other places.

Now, with the team from Eden Exit and other friends, we’ve decided to start again. To begin exactly where everything began: with the Italian rivers. It was 2008 when, with a journey called “Un altro Po”, we traveled up the great river starting from Venice, pushing ourselves as far as water and conditions allowed. And we returned to Venice. 1002 km of fresh, salty, and brackish water.

We were navigating on a boat built by Roland Poltock, a great friend and master shipwright who, unfortunately, is no longer with us—though who knows, maybe he’s still sailing somewhere. It was the boat that Roland built together with Silvio Lago, Niccolò Zen who made the masts, Michael Kierkegaard the oars, Attilia Cometti the sails, and, in a very small way, me too. That boat is now in the Koç Museum in Istanbul, where hundreds of thousands of people have seen it. And maybe, at least some of them, sensed what that journey was meant to tell.

Today we start again from that memory. From that network of waterways that connects Turin to Trieste. And we will do it once again with a boat: the same one that took us from London to Istanbul. (more…)

 
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Man on the River documentary premiére

On 3 June 2015, In River news, By Man on the River

Hello my friends. How are you? I am well. After one year many things happened.

A beautiful circumnavigation of Mallorca with an engineless llaut, a traditional fishing boat voltamallorca.com, a few hundred kilometers skiing and towing my ecopulk, in an old clean way, in Norway manonthesnow.com and some talks, interviews etc etc.

Also, I’m still restoring Memphis and become proud member of the project called Blue Oceans TV founded by Terence Bulley, a very very very interesting man.

Intense months so.

Now I am so happy. After three years of hard work the film about Man on the River trip is ready and the world premiere will be during the Biografilm Festival in Bologna.

It hasn’t been an easy process. Paolo Muran, Nicola Pittarello, Anna Sandrini, Josephine Shaumburg, Bruno Porto and Leon Greco worked with just a little financial support from a crowdfunding campaign, dedicating a lot of their time and energy to the film making. With more than 14 Terabyte and 600 interviews it was heartbreaking to cut some of them. I still didn’t watch the film..and I am so excited. It will be my first time with you all in Bologna.

The premiere will be in Bologna, in the Arlecchino Movie theater on June 10th 2015, 19:30. You are all welcome to come. Please check the Bologna Biografilm Festival web site for further details. Go to programma then click on June the 10th.

Then other festivals already asked Paolo to present the film and hopefully soon will be available.

All the Man on the River team would like to thank the persons who supported us in this long project. Without them it wouldn’t have been possible to finish the film.

Be water my friends.

See you there

 
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Man on the Snow report

On 19 May 2014, In What happens before, By Man on the River

Dear friends of Man on the Snow (and River too!),

I still thank you all for your precious help.

As you probably know from the web site and Facebook page of Man on the Snow the project has been moved to the next winter. I passed through some problems and changes.

First of all snow conditions were not good at all. At the beginning, in January,  in Oslo it was raining and the few centimeters of snow started very quickly to melt. The situation didn’t change for all the winter. All Norway passed trough one of the warmest winter since many years. In the Svalbard archipelago the situation was serious. In December, January and February the average temperatures have been 15 C° higher then normal. In Alta, near Nordkapp, in late february it was 5C° above zero. A very unusual situation for above the polar circle zones. (more…)

 
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Freedom feels nice, but has a price

On 17 January 2014, In River news, By Man on the River

Sorry for the silence but I paid all the price of this freedom. With all myself. Commitment, work without schedules, passion that must not be extinguished. It doesn’t, in fact.

Snow is nothing but frozen water. After so many words, projects and meetings, now I need to stop this rushing river of energy. The River of January is still and motionless, it saves all energies for spring.

I’ll be back to my roots, to my landscapes in black and white. To pure wind. To people who greet each other when they meet and are happy. Because there are few humans in white. (more…)

 
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Upcoming events

On 23 September 2013, In River news, By Man on the River

Dear friends,

it has been a long time since I wrote something.

I’ve been around meeting people, sharing and restoring Memphis, in Mallorca, for the next project, (please see www.bewater.info).

This week, from the 24th to the 30th I will be in Istanbul one year later invited by the International Boat Show.
I still remember the emotion on the arrival at the Rahmi Koc Museum, in the Golden Horn.
It happened today, exactly one year ago, and it’s also my birthday. What a gift I did receive from the “fatus”.

I will be happy to meet you at the boat show in Pendik, on the Marmara Sea. (more…)

 
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Always on the go

On 10 May 2013, In River news, By Man on the River

Palermo is sumptuous and obscene. Palermo like New Delhi, where the fabulous palaces of the Maharajas lay next to the bodies of the dying pariah. Palermo like Cairo, where putrid hieroglyphs of shacks lay next to forests of skyscrapers and gardens.

Palermo is like all the capitals of those people who never managed to be a nation. In Palermo, the corruption is physical, tangible and aesthetic: It’s a beautiful woman, rotten by bad moods, with black fingernails, but also so mysteriously beautiful. Palermo is Sicily’s history, cowardice and heroism, despair, fury, defeats, rebellions. Palermo is also Spain, the Moors, the Swabians, the Arabs, the Normans, the Angevins: No other city is as Sicilian as Palermo, but Sicilians don’t love it. (more…)

 
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