Few months ago, I was writing the second page of "La Papesse", and while I was developing my subject, Hagia Irene came as a revelation to me. Finally, I found something deep inside this building that was showing me a light of understanding, something that brought me to the roots of a kind of humanity that became my culture and my identity. I could imagine the men who had conceived this building like an act of civilization and this act of civilization became the roots of a tree where Christianity and Judaism have grown side by side around the Mediterranean sea. This is a beautiful building and I did not even begin to talk about it. I could not find the words. I still cannot find the words, so I made a short movie to express my feelings, a compilation of the videos I could find on Youtube.
I was like a ghost, floating in the air like a soul in search of a beauty and I could feel the pulse of my blood like if a compression would beat my head, my stomach and my heart. I was like a horse in the arena, this place was a different world where I did not know if I'd rather run to live or die, but I could have died there, it would have been in peace. The peace of a long meditation. The peace of a prayer. The peace of God.
I like to watch this video like an act of prayer. I like the emotion it raises and the energy it gives to continue my writing, my painting, my meditation, my search and my little tiny part of the creation. I am not sure I found the words to talk about Hagia Irene. It will probably take several paints, songs, poems, texts and silences to write it, but Hagia Irene drives me inside and the beauty of it is the language by itself. Hagia Irene is a language. I hope it can inspire you as much as it inspires me and I hope that it brings you peace as much as it does to me. I am happy I could make it.
The music is from A Filetta: https://youtu.be/FU-wBJ4r3f0