Writer and Artist
Interview with Agata and Dave on SELF HARM PERSPECTIVES, Friday, Oct. 6 at 6 am ADT on CBC Radio One!
My canadian collaborator David Petersen and I have been working on several art exhibitions as part of our project about mental health awareness “SolitudeSkinnyScars-TheShow”. One of these is to be hold in Campbellton, New Brunswick. Here the words of David;
“Il nord è un punto di vista che non avevi mai incontrato e che avrà un’ influenza sul tuo modo di vedere le cose. E tutto prende una sfumatura blu ghiaccio, e gli occhi si riempiono di delicatezza e di estremità.”
Going North (Verso Nord) è un insieme di esperienze di persone che sono state attratte da quell’unicità fredda e distante che in qualche modo dona un particolarissimo calore dentro.
Nelle sale storiche del Torrazzo Gonzaghesco di Commessaggio (MN), questi punti di vista condividono impressioni di una terra che si snodano, tra fotografie e video, in un percorso che assomiglia ad un diario di viaggio.
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Inaugurazione:
25 Febbraio alle ore 16:00, con aperitivo e rinfresco di benvenuto.
Orari di apertura:
– sabato: 15 / 18.30
– domenica e festivi: 10 / 12 & 15 / 18.30
Ingresso libero.
SELF HARM AWARENESS CAMPAIGN 2023
” Dialogue is fundamental. The key that unlocks the door to dialogue is reaching out and talking.”
The goal of this Mental Illness awareness campaign is to offer an opportunity to dialogue on one of the increasingly common but as yet still closeted social taboos.. people hurting themselves as a way to deal with life.
Self Harm takes many forms; cutting or burning, substance abuse and addiction, suicidal thoughts that escalate into action and more. These things have always been a part of the human condition but the recent Covid pandemic brought unwelcomed changes to how we interact as a society. Social distancing and lockdowns contributed to a sharp increase in emergency hospital visits due to self harm events.
The time is long past due that the topic of Self Harm has a proper seat at the Mental Health table. The time is long past due for an insightful and experienced voice such as possessed by Agata Borghesan. Also known as, Solitude Skinny Scars.
The “Who?”
Agata Borghesan is a collaborative artist, model and author. Born in Mantua , Italy on the 5th of April, 1994. She started exhibiting significant mental illness symptoms in her younger teen years.
Also at this time she realized that being artistically creative was an incredible asset that allowed her to express the violent and negative turmoil within using her abilities as a relief valve of sorts.
While finishing high school she decided to use her artistic nature to promote Mental Health awareness and develope her skills as an advocate for those who have not found their voice.
By creating “SolitudeSkinnyScars -The Show“ Agata is following an obvious and necessary step in her artistic career to increase the scope and reach of her message.
A quick backstory….
At the age of 13 Agata, an average teenager, started cutting herself as a method of coping with life. Quite quickly this behaviour intensified and branched out into other activities that can only be associated with self destruction. What followed was 5 years of excruciating life filled with doctors and hospital stays, tears, pain, panic and questions without answers until.. a diagnosis appeared.
At age18 it was determined she suffered from “Borderline Personality Disorder characterized by extreme self harm behaviour” and her road to recovery and control over her life began. The world of therapy and medications soon became the process by which she fought against an often times unseen and unforgiving enemy.. herself.
At age 25 Agata gathered her thoughts and writings and published her eBook, “20 Years of Sloth”. This seminal document explores aspects of stigma, isolation and the act of self harm from a uniquely experienced point of view. It is her insight into the universality of mental health that we all share at some level.
Now, at 28, Agata has developed strategies, coping mechanisms, routines and philosophies around her situation that allow her to live in relative control of her illness. She has valuable information that needs to be shared.
The Origin and Goal
Agata and Dave crossed paths for the first time in late December of 2019. She being in Italy and he residing in Canada. What started as an online interest in each other’s Instagram posts developed into a conversation around collaborating as fellow artists.
Agata was interested in a way to get her story and message to a wider audience and Dave was looking for the right person and story for his company, Oracle Images, to bring to a wider audience. It didn’t take long to come up with an idea that could satisfy both their requirements.
What followed was 2 years of Pandemic that exposed a significant trend towards self harm brought on by the changes in social structure. Stress, anxiety, depression and suicidal ideations resulted in an increase in emergency hospital visits. Dave and Agata saw a necessity.
The decision was made to produce a stage presentation with a theatrical style. The subject would be Self Harm and tour the show to university and college campuses. Along the way material for a documentary concerning the topic and tech process would be gathered.
Italian author, performer and artist, Agata Borghesan was born the 5th of April, 1994 in Mantua, a small city in the northern Italian region of Lombardia, where she had a normal upbringing with her family.
While finishing the high school in visual art in Mantua, she decided to use her artistic nature to express her wish of sharing mental health awareness and started collaborating with local artists and becaming involved in several exhibitions. These experiences gave her the confidence to produce and publish her novel, “20 Years of Sloth”, online.
At the age of 25 she moved to Iceland for a year to expand her artistic collaborations as a performer and hold a solo exhibition in the capital Reykjavik. The ruggedness and stark nature of the country inspired a deeper introspection.
Back to Italy in 2020 she published two poetry collections online inspired by her travels to Iceland. She continued to participate in published projects and exhibitions as a model, travelling around Europe to reach a wider audience.
During the pandemic and lockdown upheaval, while continuing to produce art, she decided to move permanently from Italy as soon as the covid situation would permit it to be able to share her message and art in untouched territory. She currently lives in northern Norway.