My passion for heritage started as a young child, having the good fortune to be born into a family with strong historic roots. An interesting path, going back many centuries, which instilled in me the travel bug going forward. Earlier this year I visited South Africa. Sitting on a wooden beach, overlooking the Cape Peninsular beach of Noordhoek, my thoughts wandered to my raison d’etre. The fresh Atlantic air gave cause for really crystal thinking – I want to make a difference in the world and help preserve our past. Not just mine, but the heritage of everyone. The pondering at Noordhoek Beach was significant, as the rest of my story here will reveal…
It seemed that my visit to South Africa was immersing me in all things heritage. Totally unintentionally, the establisment my daughter and I chose to stay, was rich in heritage too, even by name – The Cape Heritage Hotel.
The African continent is reputed to be the cradle of mankind, hence logic dictates that this is where our heritage began. A fascinating country, South Africa was starting to shape my thinking of where my prospective project really should begin. It’s at the tip of Africa that I decided to actually DO something about my passion, my purpose.
The flight back to Italy was long, but the time went by quite swiftly. I was making mental notes and scribbling the proverbial napkin business plan. The time had come to galvanize myself into action. Taking advantage of the momentum of my mind to make things happen. After all, I’m a product of a rich heritage, of which I was reminded, just a few days after my return. I attended a festival near Cimena, my ancestral home and where I lived until moving to Turin as a teenager. This is where the story takes an interesting turn…
Dinner was served at the festival and a complete stranger asks to dine beside me. I agree reluctantly, as my mind was not on small talk, but on my recent trip and heritage plans. To my surprise, the man next to me turns out to be South African, from the very place in the photograph above… Noordhoek Beach!
While I was sitting above his home, Herby was making his way to Italy, to catch up with a mutual friend, the hostess of the festival. Strangers over dinner, we compared our travel notes. To make a long story short, this meeting of chance, has now turned into a collaboration. A retired Information Technology consultant, but still an entrepreneur at heart, Herby has agreed to help structure the technical platform for my dream. Today we registered the domain name ArtAcadia.org
While we are not sure of how exactly things will take shape, the consensus is that we should use the reach of the Internet and power of social media. In addition, we’ll need time and money. The former is easy, we’re both self-employed. The latter does not grow on trees. However, where there is a will, there is a way!
TO BE CONTINUED…
