One can only see correctly with the heart, what is truly important is invisible to the eyes.
Antoine de Saint-Exupéry
One can only see correctly with the heart, what is truly important is invisible to the eyes.
Antoine de Saint-Exupéry
One can only see correctly with the heart, what is truly important is invisible to the eyes.
Antoine de Saint-Exupéry
what is amista?
amistà was born from an encounter that took place in Istanbul between Ada and Mira, two three-year-old girls who found each other one morning in early September 2023. Ada and Mira became such firm friends during the following months that their mothers felt they had to spread some of the magic their friendship had created.
A stands for Ada + M for Mira + Ista is the abbreviation for Istanbul
More importantly, amistà is the Italian word for ‘friendship’, making it the perfect name for a project inspired by Ada and Mira’s special relationship. To reflect this, our vision is to turn what the heart of your child has expressed on paper into something more tangible.
The drawings of your little ones contain a piece of them, of their heart, of their dreams, and of how they see the world. But often the adult eyes fail to see what their children have seen, as described in the classic children’s book, The Little Prince, in which Antoine de Saint-Exupéry perfectly expresses the failure of adults to see beyond the obvious:
Grown-ups never understand anything by themselves, and it is tiresome for children to be always and forever explaining things to them…In the course of my life, I have had a great many encounters with a great many people who have been concerned with matters of consequence. I have lived a great deal among grown-ups. I have seen them intimately, close at hand. And that hasn’t much improved my opinion of them.
Whenever I met one of them who seemed to me at all clear-sighted, I tried the experiment of showing him my Drawing Number One, which I have always kept. I would try to find out, so, if this was a person of true understanding. But, whoever it was, he, or she, would always say: “That is a hat.” Then I would never talk to that person about boa constrictors, or primeval forests, or stars. I would bring myself down to his level. I would talk to him about bridge, and golf, and politics, and neckties. And the grown-up would be greatly pleased to have met such a sensible man.
Can anything be done to allow us to truly see the way our children do? What would happen if the drawings of our children could go beyond two dimensions? Would that help us to see as well as they do?
amistà helps you to do just that. Characters that were once just a flat drawing become soft dolls that will accompany you both on a thousand adventures in landscapes created in your child’s imagination.
Rather than hanging your child’s special drawing on the wall where it will only fade and eventually just be thrown away, we can turn it into something much more permanent and almost bring it to life.
how does it work?
* Your child draws their dreams on a white sheet of paper with colored pencils, tempera, chalk and lots of happiness, and perhaps with parents’ help too (see amistà and play therapy).
* Scan the drawing and email it to us.
* The living drawing, which is machine washable at 30 degrees, is then sent to your home.
* Each drawing is then digitally printed in non-toxic colors onto 100% cotton fabric. The individual pieces are then cut out and sewn together to create a 3D representation that is as unique as its creator.
* Our project was born out of extensive study and many chats with psychotherapists about how to best make children feel truly accepted in society and help them to believe in both themselves and their dreams.
Can anything be done to allow us to truly see the way our children do?
What would happen if the drawings of our children could go beyond two dimensions? Would that help us to see as well as they do?
amistà helps you to do just that. Characters that were once just a flat drawing become soft dolls that will accompany you both on a thousand adventures in landscapes created in your child’s imagination.
