ENRICO MAGNANI

ITA

COSMIC HUG #3 - for aWOMAN

Connecting Art and People together

THE CONCEPT

Collective works and social impact

Cosmic Hug is an artistic and social project conceived by Enrico Magnani in 2013, designed to evolve as a global, collective work. Through a series of mosaics created with painted tiles, the project merges art and humanitarian engagement, weaving a symbolic network of connections among participants.

Each mosaic consists of tiles owned by different supporters, including a central tile (No. 13) preserved by the artist. This core tile serves as a living archive, documenting the project's history through its layered paintings—repainted with each new edition, accumulating memory and transformation as a symbol of cyclical rebirth.

The artworks become nodes in an ideal network transcending geographical and temporal boundaries. Cosmic Hug adapts its visual language to new contexts and themes tied to its chosen humanitarian cause, while always preserving its participatory structure—uniting artistic and philanthropic communities worldwide.

COSMIC HUG – 4aWOMAN

AKBARALY FOUNDATION'S HUMANITARIAN PROJECTS FOR MADAGASCAR IN MILAN FOR THE FIRST TIME

PINACOTECA AMBROSIANA MILANO

28 OCTOBER 2015 - 19.30

On the evening of October 28, 2015, starting at 7:30 PM, the Pinacoteca Ambrosiana in Milan will host the first Italian fundraising event for humanitarian projects in Madagascar, organized by the Akbaraly Foundation.

The event, hosted by Alessandro Cecchi Paone, will feature the exclusive first and last viewing of the complete artwork *"Cosmic Hug - 4aWoman"*, created for the Akbaraly Foundation by artist Enrico Magnani. Attendees will have the opportunity to purchase one or more of the 49 hand-painted tiles from this large-scale mosaic, with proceeds going to charity.

This Milanese gala event was conceived by Enrico Magnani and Cinzia Catalfamo Akbaraly (Founder and President of the Akbaraly Foundation, as well as Representative of the Italian Government in Madagascar). Distinguished guests will enjoy an evening featuring a performance by the multicultural Orchestra dei Popoli and a themed dinner curated by chef Paolo Amadori.

 THE WORK

THE EVENT | GALA CHARITY - PINACOTECA AMBROSIANA MILAN - OCTOBER 28, 2015

 Our beautiful city was the global protagonist of 2015 thanks to EXPO. It became more crowded, more beautiful, more international. "Cosmic Hug," with its concept of "food for the soul," joins this Milanese movement to contribute to the EXPO event.

The Pinacoteca Ambrosiana, in all its beauty, will be the perfect setting for a gala evening hosted by Alessandro Cecchi Paone, which will be attended by about a hundred prominent figures from the worlds of business, intellect, art, and healthcare, including one of the main supporters of "4aWoman" activities, Professor Umberto Veronesi.

The high-level "dinatoire" cocktail will provide an opportunity for guests to exchange ideas, while live classical music will enliven the evening. Naturally, the work "Cosmic Hug," in all its grandeur, immersed in its profound transcendental and material meaning, will serve as the common thread for a very special evening dedicated to serving those who suffer most in this world.

On this occasion, the veil that had until then shrouded the work in mystery will be lifted. Its ephemeral nature will make this event unique and unrepeatable. Only those present will be able to see the work live for the first and last time in its entirety and be the first to acquire one or more tiles of the large mosaic, thereby contributing to the development of the Cosmic Hug project and especially to the humanitarian cause of the Akbaraly Foundation and its "4aWoman" project in support of African women and children.

AKBARALY FOUNDATION - PROGETTO 4aWOMAN

The "Cosmic Hug" - this cosmic embrace - is what the Akbaraly Foundation brings to life every day on the ground in Africa, particularly in Madagascar, embracing hundreds of women, children and men in need. In one of the world's poorest countries, on one of our planet's most struggling continents, the Foundation has dedicated decades of effort to improving children's education and family healthcare through integrated, holistic projects aimed at changing both their present and future.

The "4aWOMAN" project focuses specifically on healthcare for women and children, maternal and child health, as well as the treatment and prevention of female cancers - breast and uterine - which are likely the leading cause of death for African women. Proceeds from the evening will benefit a new center for women and children in Madagascar's capital, Antananarivo. By working to improve living conditions in their home country, the Foundation aims to reduce poverty among African populations and prevent the human disaster of mass migration to the West.

In the "Cosmic Hug," there are no distinctions of race, culture, geography or time: the embrace is universal, like the primordial sound of OM that has filled all spaces across all times. Within its vast, luminous arms find comfort both those who love to give because they know that in giving they receive even more; and those who need to receive, for they too always give something in return. It's a circle that closes with just one possible word: LOVE.

(Cinzia Catalfamo Akbaraly, President of Akbaraly Foundation, Honorary General Consul of Italy in Madagascar)

    THE WORK | COSMIC HUG No. 3 - 4aWOMAN

A gigantic explosion bursts through the darkness and silence of eternity. The primordial sound OM, which gave birth to creation, has been expanding ever since, generating the universe. These are the foundations from which I created Cosmic Hug No. 3, 2015 edition, for the humanitarian association 4aWoman.

A great Big Bang, captured across forty-nine tiles arranged in a seven-by-seven matrix, originates from the central tile containing the ancient OM symbol in 24-karat gold at its core. All other tiles embed the OM form - nearly invisible yet present. Each tile resembles its father, made in his image and likeness while remaining unique and unrepeatable, just like all human beings.

In the cosmic darkness, seven golden rays emanate from the center: these are the seven rays of creation that, through further differentiation, produce the immense multiplicity and wonderful richness of manifested life across visible and invisible worlds. The number seven - the most sacred in all traditions - appears again in the seven colors of the rainbow contained in each tile, analogous to the seven musical notes, seven chakras, and seven heavens.

Thus Cosmic Hug No. 3 powerfully summarizes creation and the principle that everything is contained within everything. OM is above all the sound that heals and restores human balance with the cosmos. In this particular edition, the work becomes a great talisman whose fragments serve as ambassadors of universal harmony while concretely supporting 4aWoman's humanitarian cause.

        (Enrico Magnani)

FOOD TO CONNECT ART AND PEOPLE

Food as both division and sharing: around any table, whether noble or humble, people gather to divide and share food along with moments of daily life. Food as nourishment for everything that makes us feel good: it feeds bellies, bodies, and souls. Sometimes out of hunger, sometimes for pleasure, other times as a concept.

Food has the power to satisfy all the body's senses and, for those who can perceive it, first touches then permeates the sixth sense. Food as the most abstract and ephemeral art—consumable and never exactly repeatable. Food as sustenance transformed into element: the materiality of products or raw ingredients that demand respectful handling.

Cooking as the revitalizing concept of a product on the verge of perishing. Good, well-made cuisine to highlight the quality and value of its components: the foods themselves. Cooking crafted like art for people who eat food—food to connect art and people.

(Paolo Amadori, Chef)

MUSIC TO CONNECT ART AND PEOPLE

The Orchestra dei Popoli Vittorio Baldoni is a musical and cultural project promoted by the Fondazione Casa dello Spirito e delle Arti Onlus. A growing ensemble of 25 musicians from 11 nationalities—comprising talented young and adult musicians of diverse ethnicities, cultures, faiths, and generations, many from severe economic and social hardship—who perform alongside students from Lombardy’s conservatories and other music-focused schools.

INTERVIEW

with Enrico Magnani, Cinzia Catalfamo Akbaraly, and Alessandro Cecchi Paone at Pinacoteca Ambrosiana