For the Cum Panis workshop I worked with Roma people who have come from Romania and are now staying at the Villaggio Solidale di Ce.A.S. – Centro Ambrosiano di Solidariet. associazione ONLUS (Parco Lambro, Milan).

It was a ten-day workshop in collaboration with the Universit. di Milano Bicocca, Dipartimento di Scienze Umane per la Formazione “R. Massa.”

The first three days we talked all together about the country they have left, their expectations from their new life in Italy, how they feel, how they would like to be integrated in the society and their future plans and wishes, and we collected oral information.

In the following days we turned the oral word into written word and into shapes and sculptures made of dough. We formed letters and sculptures in dough which depicted their itinerary and their hopes, and then baked them.

The words “cum panis” literally means “with bread” and is in fact the etymology of a word we all know ‘Company.’ The title Cum Panis symbolises their faith in companionship, and this workshop created some special bonds with “the other.”

The workshop was supported by the Fondazione Giangiacomo Feltrinelli as part of EXPO15.

text by Maria Papadimitriou