Cotonificio Gatto, Pordenone, Italy
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Cotonificio Gatto
Like a moth to a flame, I am drawn to abandoned and ruined buildings. A mixture of nostalgia, curiosity and something that I can’t identify, pushes me past chain link fences, broken glass, and other detritus to see what’s inside. Usually empty, quiet and other than dust motes through shafts of light, still. But something remains, brushing my skin, heightening my senses to…
So it wasn’t surprising, after traveling to visit family in Italy and wanting to mollify the effects of my jet lag, I went for a walk with my nephew and found myself wandering through the abandoned 19th century Cotonificio Veneziana. This cotton mill, in the Borgomeduna section of Pordenone, is one of three that for almost a century employed nearly 12,000 workers, most of them women. They changed the face of the city by transforming its economy, contributing to the political growth of organized labor and affecting the social fabric through the emancipation and empowerment of its female employees.
Abandoned since the early 1980’s, the spirits of those who worked here linger… palpable, making me walk, in my jet lagged state, further into the ruins to find an incongruous “gatto in riposo” (a resting cat) painted by some anonymous graffiti artist on these weathered walls.
Waiting and watching…
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I can’t help but think of the ties with Los Gatos and gatto in riposo….hmmmm haunting indeed.
I actually thought of that too Shannon! It’s interesting how these themes play out in life… Thanks for your comment!
Marco, I love this picture, it has a surrealistic feel to it, reminding me of the magic in our lives, the power to see, really see into the great matter, that all is passing away, dreams of a forgotten time, forgotten space, long ago, it was so real, so tangible…the beauty of impermanence
I hope for more!
Thank you for your comments Sheelo! It is a surrealistic place and has a type of energy that I’ve not felt before. Maybe it’s just more Italian – LOL! Though forgotten in the sense that it’s not being used, it’s history is keeping it around and considered for revitalization… More images of it are on their way…