In September 2020, my grandfather (or ‘nonno’ in Italian) got sick. Because it was the height of pandemic, he was not able to see many people in person while he was healing. To help keep him company from several states away, I started sending daily emails that contained a link to a video of something beautiful or interesting, along with a little message written in his native Italian. He made a full recovery in a few weeks but had quickly grown accustomed to starting his day by reading them. I, too, had gotten used to closing out my days with this heart-centered curatorial practice and regarded the moment of his quotidian attention as a privilege. I decided to continue the project as a matter of sacred duty. Nonno remained in good health for almost 2 subsequent years, so hundreds more video emails were sent. This continued until the day of his passing, in May 2022, at age 94.
The presentation of this project is an ongoing practice. There are over 500 videos compiled in a YouTube playlist and the project has recently expanded with the commencement of daily Instagram posts @canalenonno. Like the emails, each of these will share a moment of music, art, nature, or another of life’s wonders – some great, some small.
