In Italy I feel like a citizen of the world, I feel part of something bigger
Fabiano, born in 1976 in Belo Horizonte, southeastern Brazil, speaks English, Italian, Portuguese, and German. He arrived in Italy in 2016 and lives in Beinasco, with his Italian wife whom he met in Brazil: “her father worked in Brazil for Fiat, and I met her there twenty-six years ago“. There is a small twinning between his city and Turin, due to the presence of FIAT: “we have an Italian school, they call us a bit the Piedmontese of Brazil”.
What prompted him to come to Italy, in addition to his sentimental connection, was the difficult situation Brazil fell into culturally after Lula’s government and Bolzonaro’s rise to power.
Fabiano started as a musician, but today he is a graphic designer and is involved in visual communication. “I deal with many aspects of visual communication: colors, shapes, I am a designer, I also do art installations, visual performances”.
He graduated from Fumec University in Brazil and went on to specialize in sound design; “sound design is a part of visual communication, you study how sounds are created in film”. After graduation, he also founded a small company doing augmented reality and video mapping to launch large-scale products. He has collaborated with the likes of architects.
Gringo Cardia, who is very famous in Brazil for his carnival scenic designs.
Upon arriving in Italy, he found many difficulties in putting himself forward for work, but thanks to the “A Full Title” Association, he managed to get his foreign titles recognized.
Initially, he struggled with “the formality behind the Italian language: culturally, I found myself in strange situations; I was used to always calling ‘tu’, or I would sit somewhere and they would tell me that I should politely ask permission to sit…I come from the world of theater, and ballet, where everything is less formal!”. But thanks to reading and his passion for foreign languages, he managed to get to a good level of Italian.
He also lived in Germany, where he followed cultural projects, but Turin is now his city, “I feel good about it: good health care, good infrastructure management, especially for the disabled, which is an issue I am very sensitive to. In Italy I feel like a citizen of the world, I feel part of something big. My being Brazilian here I feel is culturally an asset, my presence brings joy…and then here is the train!!!” The negative aspects he finds are mainly related to bureaucratic issues, for example in employment centers.
“The somewhat difficult side is the relationship between immigration and Italian society, which could improve.”
“It would be interesting to have a monthly meeting between migrants, to have a place to meet, to confront each other”. Fabiano also points out the lack of a real transgender debate and culture in Italy, which is experienced more freely and openly in Brazil.
What he misses most about Brazil is the strong sense of community: mutual aid, sharing, and “living life just for the sake of living, taking the bicycle, taking a walk, having a quiet mind, helping others, in a relaxed way, leaving out productivity”.
Fabiano will stay in Italy, “I think I have a mission, to make people smile, to bring joy, the world is already too complex!”.
