Interview with Matteo Cibic, at the Fuorisalone with Elasi for Starbucks

In a symphonic harmony of visionary design and enveloping melodies, Matteo Cibic and musician Elasi join forces in a magical encounter at the Starbucks Reserve Roastery Milano during Fuorisalone 2024 inside the Arriviamo Bar.
We sat down with Matteo Cibic and explored the synergies between the enigmatic master of eclectic aesthetics' design and Elasi's vibrant soundtrack, casting an intriguing glance at what lies ahead during this year's Fuorisalone.


© MAT

What can we expect from this unprecedented collaboration with singer and musician Elasi?
Elasi and I are getting ready to create a unique experience, combining visual and sound art in sensory portraits of whoever is willing to participate in this performance.
People will be invited to sit in front of us, wrapped in a nest I created. "What dream would you like to live?" The answer will fuel the imagination, which I will translate into drawings, while Elasi will express through sounds and vocal atmospheres a personalized soundtrack that unfolds in real time - sound portraits!
The combination of visual and sound elements creates an artistic experience that transforms a simple meeting between strangers into a profound sensory journey.

Why did you decide to focus on portraiture?
My creative world is a place where art merges with diversity and celebrates the uniqueness of each of us. 
Each face tells a story, a unique journey of experiences, emotions and dreams, and with this performance I want to celebrate the uniqueness of each of us. 
Through portraits, I intend to create a visual dialogue in which acceptance is the shared language and art the bridge that connects hearts and minds. I want each person who sits in front of me to feel represented, valued, and welcomed in their uniqueness.
I invite you to share this adventure with us, to be part of an artistic and sonic exploration that goes beyond the visible, plunging into the depths of our being. 


© MAT

And the choice of the Starbucks Reserve Roastery Milano as your performance location?
I spend afternoons sitting at the Roastery observing a melting pot of people who, like me, laze around and enjoy the passage of time without wheezing.
As if I were in Willy Wonka's factory, I stand there open-mouthed observing the stills, the twisted tubes, the colorful silos, but most of all all those people who, like me, are pervaded by wonder.
A colorful little Indian family with 4 children, 2 Russian friends, a Swedish couple, a Japanese lady with long lace gloves, 3 white-collar workers from a nearby office.
Fascinated by two literary characters, Alessandro Baricco's Mr. Gwyn, a successful writer who, at the height of his career, retires to devote himself to the creation of written portraits, and Gianni Rodari's Baron Lamberto, who remains eternally young thanks to a musical background that signs his praises, I matured the desire to devote myself to portraits, merging sound and drawing, with the sweet and eclectic complicity of singer Elasi.
To have the opportunity to look closely at someone, to study their features, their gaze, to have a stranger's dream revealed to you and be able to illustrate and set it to music – I find it an experiment of emotional sharing.