About ten years ago, the Veronese cashier Vania Bonvicini made the news for having run over her ex-husband in an accident with a “suspicious” dynamic; now she is in prison and is risking life imprisonment for the very serious accusation of having voluntarily stabbed to death in June 2023 her cousin-partner Maurizio Tessari in his home in San Bonifacio. The two had been linked by a turbulent relationship and now Vania could be sentenced to the maximum sentence for having acted – second prosecutor and civil party – with suspected premeditation.
Spelling errors
She denies it and from behind bars invokes self-defense, but in the meantime, while waiting for the trial to resume after the summer, she dedicates herself to anti-violence art in her cell. In fact, the shining also stands out sun created and signed by the author «Vania Bonvicini 2024» among the fifteen paintings that make up the anti-violence mosaic created by the inmates of the Verona Montorio prison and displayed yesterday at the entrance to the Verona Court. A large canvas symbolizing rebirth, demonstrating how art is an important tool for restoring dignity and hope for the future. The colorful and emblematic tapestry, with different styles and techniques, rich in colors and words, was created with the support of police officers, volunteers and educators involved in the social reintegration of prisoners. THE small spelling errors present in the works were intentional maintained to preserve the authenticity and spontaneity of the messages.
«The city of women»
The project, which is part of the activities promoted by the Municipality of Verona with the «The city of women» program, aims to restore centrality to the female figure in the various areas of society. It is particularly significant that some of the pieces were carried out by “sex offenders”, prisoners convicted of crimes of violence against women, as authentic expressions of the rehabilitation process undertaken. They attended the tapestry exhibition the director of the Scaliger prison, Francesca Gioieni; the president of the Scaligero Court, judge Ernesto D’Amico; the president of the Criminal Chamber of Verona, lawyer Paolo Mastropasqua.
The importance of the initiative
The deputy mayor Barbara Bissoli underlined the importance of the initiative: «This path of rehabilitation and re-education, through art and beauty, involves even those who have been guilty of violence against women. With the different representations, the authors want to celebrate the woman seen with new eyes in the light of the recovery journey undertaken. It’s a message of hope, in line with the constitutional charter which provides for the re-educational and rehabilitative function of punishment, to allow prisoners to gain further awareness of their actions and look to the future with new eyes”.
