Today, artists were hard at work along via Nicolaci in Noto preparing their entries into the 2016 Infiorata. Our good friend GelsominoImports.com is fortunate enough to be in the Baroque city for the festival. These photos by Niki Masino give us a good idea of the planning and execution of the flower petal carpets. Hopefully, we’ll have more to share tomorrow!
I realized today that this art form is similar in philosophy to the Buddhist sand mandalas. I’ve watched monks putting those together twice now. The work is so tedious but also mind-boggling. The stay bent over the large circular table for hours at a time. I’ve never been to one of the ceremonies after the mandala is finished – where the monks walk it down to a nearby river and allow the whole beautiful work slide into the water. So ephemeral – just like life. These infioratas are much like that because they can’t possibly last but a few days at most. Make beauty and let it go. <3
Oh, how beautiful! Yes, that is the philosophy behind this as well. On Monday, the children of the town run through the street gleefully destroying all of the work of the adults–exactly like what you say… the generations coming and changing everything. We can’t be attached to it!