Melismelis supports the Ferraris Day Centre for People with Disabilities, a social and health service and semi-residential facility for people with disabilities, by providing its expertise and supporting the publishing project that gave rise to the book ‘I Fiori delle Ortiche’ (The Flowers of Nettles).
The volume, edited by Alessandra Melillo and Roberta Frau, is a collection of 62 poems and 1 prayer, created during the Ferraris Day Centre's creative poetry workshop “Giochi di parole” (Word Games).
The workshop was attended by a group of women who, through poetry, overcame their limitations by giving voice to pain, joy, anxiety and invisibility, expressing a natural desire to exist and flourish.
Melismelis promoted this new pro bono charity initiative, devising the graphic concept for the book. In addition to handling the editorial project and editing, the agency also coordinated the printing of the volume, which was produced in a practical pocket format so that it can be read anytime, anywhere.
The choice of graphic elements in the book is highly evocative: the botanical illustrations of nettle flowers represent the women who wrote the poems, who may appear uncomfortable and marginalised, just like stinging and invasive plants, but who, when valued, are rich in qualities and have beneficial and healing properties, useful both in cooking and for body care. The book “I Fiori delle Ortiche” (The Flowers of Nettles) can be purchased online from the charity shop and from the L'Insalata Matta shop in Cascina Biblioteca in Milan.