8 questions with Cibo

The Italian writer Pier Paolo Spinazzé aka Cibo is well known for its amusing graffiti against hate and violence.

The Cibo project covers nazi-fascist symbols and discriminatory sentences with colorful images of muffins, sausages, icecreams, cheese, pizza: in fact “cibo” simply means “food”, and we all know how food is important for Italians.

Hi Cibo, welcome to Feel Desain! Let’s start from the beginning.

1. You live in Verona, the beautiful city of Romeo and Juliet. Unfortunately this city is also famous for its extreme right political mood.How was the debut of your project? Why did you choose food as the subject of your graffiti?

I have been in the street for more than twenty years, I am used to looking at the walls and I saw that Verona was afflicted by this “mural intolerance“. A solution had to be found to limit the overpowering of these far-right movements closely related to local politics.

Like all beautiful things, my project was born both for fun and for a chance. One day I covered some fascist writings near my house with a sausage drawing. But the km0 reactionaries considered it essential to ruin my sausage with the same bad writing, so I added ketchup. They returned, mustard arrived, they came back again and I put on mayonnaise.

Meantime, people in the village laughed at them. It was clear: they can’t win on the street! Creativity, irony, and culture are the artist’s weapons and in that field neo-fascists will always lose.

The audience destroyed the throne on which these extremists sat on. People laughed, my works became huge. Just one person was enough to drop them.

Another factor is that food is apolitical. Not having a political alignment has displaced these movements who consider only black or red ideological positions.Food belongs to everyone, it is our national pride and it is colorful!

2. Your mission is to erase hate and give citizens a sense of community. Food brings people together, no matter the color of the skin. It is definitely a positive intent, difficult to contest. Instead, your works are often vandalized. What does this mean? How do you react?

Doing street art is to know that works are not eternal, and the fact that they are ephemeral increases their value. An artist is his own worst critic, after a while you get tired and you know you can do better.

Moreover, hate is a very powerful form of energy!It is an ingredient that I have been able to enhance in my recipes, and we can safely say that without the stupidity of neo-fascists I would not be famous.Many murals are designed keeping in mind that they will be ruined so from simple work of art they become performance. The most successful one is certainly “pasta and beans” which started with beans, then veggies, pasta, parmesan… until we now have the complete dish.

In the kitchen you have to adapt to the ingredients you have: I have fascists.

3. You don’t hide your identity, everyone knows your name and your face. Writers often tend not to show themselves in public. Why this choice?

If you believe in something, you put your face on it! I do what is needed and there is nothing to be ashamed of. Indeed, every single citizen can make a difference.People who appreciate my work protect me. I find it, at least, ridiculous to hide in Verona: the city is not so big and we all know each other anyway.

“Caprese, Italy pride”

4. Your enemies even know where you live, and they often attack you. Last year they came to detonate your car. Aren’t you afraid of this?

It was a paper bomb with an intimidating purpose. Little damage to the car, but it suggests how desperate they are. This is the most striking event of a long series of retaliations that also affected my parents’ house.It means that I did my job well! It means that these people fear irony and culture.Although the gesture was not intended to harm me or my loved ones, it is just worrying because it denotes a total lack of civic, moral, and legal teachings.

5. You are so motivated and tenacious. The effort you put into the project is remarkable, and it helps to spread your message. What is the key to your success?

The key is to believe, especially if you have the capacity to do something. Everyone who makes it worked hard, never giving up.I don’t go to the pub on Friday night, I’m always at home doing my drawings! Nobody says you can’t have a beer with your friends, but while you are doing it, there is someone who is training to do better than you.

However, art is not a competition: only you are your own judge, your own stands, your own coach.

6. Social networks often represent a relief valve, spreading negative messages. Just like graffiti on the wall, some posts become indelible and visible to many. To reach more people, your job also takes place on the internet: what use do you make of it?

Social networks are a powerful resource, but they brought out the worst in us. The intentions of the Internet fathers went broke.

I try to publish pleasant content, to bring solutions that can be shared by other artists in the world.Information is the only resource that when given is not lost.

“unknown mussel”, cripple of “unknown soldier” (milite ignoto)

7. You try to bring out the best in people. Does creativity mean this to you?

I am not a saint, but when I am Cibo I am inclined to be better. Everyone can give a lot for their environment, following their own inclinations.As Brian Aldiss (one of the fathers of science fiction) said, “whatever creativity is, is part of the solution to the problem“.We are all creative, we just have to contribute and make the world a better place. As a street-artist, I erase swastikas and have a lot of fun.

8. Advice and curiosities: who are your favorite artists, not only in the visual field?

I sincerely get excited when I find creativity where there shouldn’t be, or I am moved by smart solutions to common problems, or by extremely clever and punctual answers. I don’t have any favorite artists, but I recognize a job well done, whatever the scope.

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