From the evocation of Bronislaw Malinowsky's maiden voyage to Melanesia, to the re-evocation of Joseph Conrad’s ascent into the “Heart of Darkness”, the unfolding and phantasmagoria of the ten essays by Remo Guidieri that make up this volume unfold between the foundation of modern anthropology and the birth of the clash of cultures in the reflection of the consciousness of the West. At the end of the collection, Guidieri himself reconstructs and discusses his own intellectual adventure in conversations with the book’s editor, Andrea Borsari.

Remo Guidieri is a member of the ethnology laboratory at the University of Nanterre (Paris X) where he teaches Anthropology of Beliefs and Aesthetics. He has carried out ethnological missions in the Eastern Pacific (Melanesia) and Western Pacific (Polynesia). Author of "The Way of the Dead" (Adephi, 1988), "Toys. Showcases and Ventures of the Playful Tool' (Medusa Editions, 2000), 'Matisse's Farewell' (Medusa Editions, 2002), 'Shadows. On the Cult of the Dead in Malekula, Eastern Melanesia" (Medusa Editions, 2005).

Child Gino Enn introduces one by one his classmates, which he describes by taking cue from their physical faults and behavioral habits that characterize them and that, highlighted by an entertaining perspective inversion, determine their role as monstrum: Cucco Fulvo, for example, has ears that resemble speakers and a pulsing nose that make him look like a television; Foffo Frino blows up like a balloon every time he breathes and soars up in the sky, while Ciaba Brina cries fruit candy and the Fritti Fratti twins transform into bicycles. 

The little monsters’ classroom that Piero Gilardi paints and Sebastiano Ruiz Mignone narrates is the metaphor of an ideal world where the lack of prejudices and the tolerance towards each other allow to take on a positive turn on anyone’s faults and habits, and get to know each other in a moment of authentical magic. 

Piero Gilardi (Turin, 1942). Artist who has, since the Sixties, been centered around the difference between the terms Nature - to which “reconstruction” he applies since the first Tappeti natura in polyurethane - and Culture, particularly the technologic culture to which the artist has vastly contributed with the creation and activities of Parisian association Ars Technica. In La classe dei mostriciattoli, Gilardi takes from his own academic background and his experience in the social field. 

Sebastiano Ruiz Mignone (Santo Stefano Belbo, Cuneo, 1947). Theatrical and cinematographic set designer, he has written for television and radio; he was a finalist for the Città di Verbania prize - Il Battello a Vapore in 1994 for his novel Guidone Mangiaterra e gli sporcaccioni.

Little Marco embarks on a real “journey of wonders” on Christmas night when, in defiance of the most obvious prohibition, he ventures alone into the snowy countryside, where a storm of shapes and colours will take him through a series of bizarre, tender or frightening encounters. Immortalised by the artist Julian Schnabel in enigmatic portraits and hazy visions, the Snow characters range from the Idiot, who hates to think but loves to play cards, to the Platypus, which no one ever sees but which leaves plenty of traces, and the Snowman, whose Polaroid “holy card” in Marco’s pocket protects him in his wanderings until he reappears at sunrise in the armoured guise of a medieval warrior.

Dario Voltolini skilfully alternates between narrative and figurative registers, punctuated by Schnabel’s otherwise hermetic images. The writer combines these with a fantastic dictionary of objects, music, environments, concepts and emotions that draw bibliophiles and beginners alike into the dreamlike adventure of reading.

Julian Schnabel, born in New York in 1951, completed his studies there, where he attended the Whitney Museum’s Independent Study Program from 1973. In 1976 he made his first trip to Europe, where he became fascinated by the masterpieces of Giotto, Duccio da Boninsegna and Caravaggio. On a second European trip, the use of majolica in Antoni Gaudí’s Barcelona architecture fascinated him so much that he decided to cover the entire surface of his canvases with a collage of broken plates. In his word he has not, however, neglected more traditional techniques, such as painting on canvas or board, although he is strongly characterised by the use of unusual materials as supports, such as velvet, theatre backdrops, waxed tarpaulins. His figurative repertoire is equally vast, ranging from large texts to portraits in an expressionist key, from the elaboration of religious symbols pertaining to different cultures to the literal quotation of famous paintings.

Dario Voltolini, born in 1959 in Turin where he graduated in Philosophy of Language, is known to the general public for Una intuizione metropolitana, (Bollati Boringhieri), Rincorse (Einaudi) and for his recent book published by Feltrinelli, Forme d’onda. He has written two radio plays for Radio3 and Radio2, the texts by Mosorrofa o dell’ottimismo, Città, Macchinario, Capelas Iperfeitas for the musician Nicola Campogrande and regularly holds creative writing courses at the Scuola Holden in Turin. Here he makes his confident debut in children’s literature, guiding them through the mysterious jungle of Julian Schnabel’s works.