Chiara Fossati, Whatever, 2021

“Whatever is the story of my adopted family and of a dream we shared with thousands of kids like us: to live in a world where rules or constrictions didn’t exist.” “I was a teenager looking for adventures and freedom who found herself in the midst of the declining golden age of the rave movement, with a camera hanging around my neck. At that time, no one saw any good in us or in what we were doing, just as no one even bothered to look into rave culture. I remember the looks filled with disgust and judgment that followed us everywhere, and how we just learned not to give a damn, because we believed in our dreams and the alternative life we were pursuing. Looking back to this project after years, I can’t deny that it was the freest and fullest time of my life; but that fairytale was saturated with asphalt, mud, dust and rich in enemies, and soon our teenage dream crashed into a wall. Surely, we allowed ourselves to be fascinated by the unknown, and learned to find the strength to express all that we are, so that nobody and nothing could stop us from pursuing our dreams, whatever they may be.”