VOICEAT: the Lesbia bag is coming. A mix of suggestions between art, ethics and culture

Is it possible that a bag has the evocative power of the feeling and passion that inspired the verses of Catullus - the great poet of classical antiquity - for his Lesbia ?

This - for the next spring/summer season - is the new, but not the only, challenge for VOICEAT , the refined Apulian maison , led by Annalaura Giannelli , creator of Made in Italy bags and fashion accessories , born with the mission of ennobling the fashion by conveying messages of ethical-social value .

The new bag - a practical and functional tote suitable for any woman and right for any moment of the day - is part of the "For women" line dedicated to combating gender violence .

At the moment (but for a little while yet) nothing else is known: whether the bag will quote verses from the great poet or whether it will depict something as happened with the now iconic "La Maddalena" Bag which transposed the image onto the front of the bag of the Saint reinterpreted by the Andalusian portraitist Josè Maria Pena .

Voiceat promises: it is an irresistible mix of culture, art and ethics .

But why Catullus in the fight against violence against women? What is the message?

The founder of Voiceat clarifies this: Catullus tells us the evolution of a feeling through unforgettable hatreds that accompany the tormented love story that linked him to Lesbia (who in Rome was called Clodia Pulcra, but who the poet renamed Lesbia in honor of the island where the poet Sappho lived). Lesbia was one of the first emancipated women in ancient history . To be precise, she was a cultured and uninhibited noblewoman with a proud and multifaceted character, who refused to follow the rules of behavior imposed by Roman matrons and who chose to be free in thinking and acting . After her husband's death, in fact, she preferred to remain a widow and therefore independent, in contrast with the customs of the time and had various love affairs including the one with Catullus. For this she was inappropriately labeled a prostitute (and also publicly attacked by Cicero, her brother's bitter enemy).

Catullus loved her deeply and tenderly in the first phase of love, dedicating unforgettable verses to her (From “Let's live, my Lesbia”: From mi basia mille, deinde centum, dein mille alte, dein secunda centum, deinde usque alter mille, deinde centum...” “ Give me a thousand kisses, then a hundred, then a thousand again, then a hundred again, then without stopping another thousand, then a hundred... ) , then he dreamed in vain of her return and ended up hating her as Carme 85 reminds us which represents the maximum expression of the poet's internal conflict and the torment of a betrayed man.

I hate and I love. Here id faciam fortasse requiris. I don't feel proud and excruciating

I hate and I love. Maybe you ask me how this is possible. I don't know, but I feel it happening and I'm tormented by it.

Feelings can change and love stories can end leaving deep and permanent scars of pain , ancient Rome teaches us, but no one can claim the right to harm or even kill .

All that remains is to wait to admire the new Lesbia bag which will be produced - as for the Maddalena - in a limited edition .