What I’m going to be when I grow up?

What I’m going to be when I grow up: at 50 I’m going to be a famous…

Our origins are tucked away inside each one of us. Although we’re all grown up and keeping down a job that compels us to be a little serious, deep down some of the dreams and passions of our younger days fortunately still have the upper hand.

Our vocation as humans – both adults and children – is to leave our mark on the planet […] as a testament to our time here.

These are the words of Vico Avalle in his book Il disegno del bimbo (Children’s drawings). Here at Guidi, this is our vocation too: to leave our mark – in a positive and useful way, but also in a way that’s effective, constructive and profitable for people, the company and the area.

This year, we are celebrating our first 50 years in business: an important milestone.

It’s time to look forward, but also to look back, and reflect a little. We have grown, we have achieved a great deal, and we have much still to achieve. It’s a bit like remaining a child, with a huge desire to grow up.

This desire to grow, and a love of art, are the foundation stones of the project: What I’m going to do when I grow up… Because children’s drawings are a form of art, after all.

They are formed by characters, primitive signs; they appear to follow unwritten rules.

Children describe figures, just as they might using words; they portray reality as their memory tells them to, expressing their desires in the details.

A return to our origins. The reconsideration of children’s drawings was a topic that generated great interest in the early years of the 20th century, intertwining closely with primitivism.

Picasso’s paintings featured heads seen in profile, but with both eyes facing forward, an inclination also evident in children’s drawings.
Paul Gauguin described himself as leaning towards a primitive state.
Henri Matisse rejected figuration in favour of rhythm and repetition: simple shapes, a search for the innocence of prehistorical civilisations and primitive peoples, a rejection of modern society.
The naïf painter Henri Rousseau, the leading light of the modern primitive school, painted primitive, exotic works: an attempt to return to the origins, free the unconscious and pursue spirituality.
In The Cattle Dealer, Marc Chagall painted what cannot be seen, yet exists: the calf in the belly of its mother pulling the cart. This is how a child might portray reality, incorporating his own experience and emotions.

The first piece of writing dedicated to children’s drawings in Italy was the short work L’arte dei bambini (Children’s Art), written at the end of the 19th century by Corrado Ricci, one of the first, if not indeed the first study on children’s drawings.

In this work, Ricci revealed the essence and the meaning of children’s artwork, an area that had never attracted attention in the centuries up to then. The author’s observations remain valid today, more than 130 years later.

[…] generally speaking, children follow their own laws, and they think: «A man must look as he pleases, in profile or facing forward, and this will detract nothing from him; whichever direction he looks in, he will still be a man, with two arms and two eyes» […]

Thirty children, aged 0 to 11, worked on this project. We like to call them Guidi’s children, because they’re all the children or grandchildren of people who work in or with the company. Given the number of candles on our cake, the target was 50 drawings, which we achieved and indeed exceeded! The children produced a total of 52 drawings, illustrating their hopes for the future. When they reach 50, they’re going to be famous chefs, baristas, designers, dancers, singers… They all know where they’re headed!

Our commitment to children continues, and we have new projects and lots of new ideas in the pipeline. We’d like to thank the Guidi’s children for this splendid birthday gift, and – as we’re sure all 30 of them will agree – we’d like to dedicate this project to all the world’s children, and our wish as we blow out the candles is this: the hope that these children are able to maintain their innocence, candour and simplicity as long as possible. And above all, that all children can have a childhood to enjoy.

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