More than an element of spiritual growth, art at Damanhur is a multimedia pillar in the life of its citizens. The outdoor walls of Damanhurian houses, when the architectural features allow for it, serve as canvases for paintings: large nature scenes with enormous flowers and insects can be seen in the area called Damjl. (There are patches intentionally left "open," where you can glimpse evidence of previous decorations). A naval battle from ancient times is represented at Milte, near a small, artificial body of water, where a detail of this scene is reproduced in young stone. The unusual vision of a peninsula, that really reminds one of the Peninsula seen in the opposite perspective on the walls of Porta del Sole.
In the midst of all this, glazed ceramic statues, columns, terra-cotta statues and other creations of various techniques, placed along the inner walkways and wherever there is space.
In every epoch and in every culture, art is one of the privileged pathways that people have sought out to develop their own talents and to discover new ones in the crucial intersection of inspiration, practical techniques, and study of materials.
That which distinguishes the artist from the artisan, from a spiritual point of view, it is not the value of the work, but the small or large scale transformation that has occurred within the artist all throughout the creation of the work, from before to after.
At Damanhur, another channel of accessing art that we consider fundamental is the process of transformation that the work of art intends to stimulate in the audience. Observing a painting or sculpture, listening to a piece of music or watching a theatre show, they have the goal of instigating transformation in the thought processes of those who take part.
We consider art as an element of identity sometimes, because as it often happens at Damanhur, one is inspired by the founding myths and life experiences in the community. Art is also considered to be a gauge that can measure the depth of one's own inner world, to dilate it and constantly learn new ways of exploring it. Exploring means perceiving, which means creating, all the time more ample and luminous.
So based on the experience of Damanhurians, if the perception of the artist is precious, that of all the others is extremely precious. The audience gives life to the artwork, and from it, they receive new life.
This consideration is valid for the works of art that you see as you walk around Damanhurian lands, just as it is for the Temples of Humankind, music and theatre, and the very particular Selfic painting that we shall soon explore more deeply.
The Temples of Humankind are the creation for which Damanhurians are most well known. 8,500 cubic meters of earth and rock excavated by hand in a mountain. Seven main halls and hundreds of meters of corridors and inner stairways. An elevator and many secret passageways, hidden in the walls.
All this, completely decorated with paintings, glass, mosaics and statues. In this creation, which is dedicated to the spiritual and divine nature of every human being, the Damanhurian idea of art is condensed. It begins with an artist - more often with a group of artists working together, sharing a creative and productive journey - who is the medium between an idea, which relates to the entire "people," and its practical realization.
The artist creates. Damanhurians and all the visitors add value through their presence, and the added value offers new lifeblood to the artists' inspiration, in an energetic circuit of artistic creation that is self-sustainable.

Art as an element of transformation for the viewer is most evidently manifested in Selfic painting, the area in which Falco works. Falco, Oberto Airaudi, is the spiritual guide of Damanhur. Selfica is a discipline that has been studied at Damanhur since the years before the community was founded. It involves the possibility of recalling and hosting intelligent energies and having them enter into symbiosis with people.
To do this, there needs to be a physical support. So the Selfs are created with structures that are small or large, mostly made of copper with curvilinear forms. In particular, they are based on the spiral. There are those that can be worn like bracelets and rings, and those that are objects to be kept in the environment around you.
This is a experimental research that does not yet have scientific evidence. In this area, there have been many experiments for many years in the areas of personal wellness, sensitivity, and re-equilibrating states of consciousness. Alongside the applications of Selfica in copper and other materials, the same principle is used in a two-dimensional way, Selfic painting.
In Selfic paintings, chromaticism, the absence-presence of form, the relation between light and color, guide the viewer in an experience that begins with the senses and becomes a voyage within oneself.
From an artistic point of view, Falco integrates chromatic, figurative and abstract elements, moving beyond commonly known languages of pictorial communication. The technique is extremely simple: acrylic and tempera colors, as if to underline how to manipulate forms and give them life, also at the level of someone with the intention to do this practice, not only those who are technically prepared.
The result, from an aesthetic point of view, is very particular. The critics would say, "provocative." The play of light in spaces created by forms, at times the absence of forms themselves, a density of color that allows the transposition of figurative and abstract in one chromatic unity, create an original code with great movement.
However, a significant point to consider is the fascinating relationship that is created between every painting and every viewer. The nature of Selfic painting - Falco paints canvases of very different sizes - creates an attunement between the work itself and the viewer. Not only a stimulus, the work is a calling forth of important values, as is art in and of itself. However, there is a real dialog between the painting and its observer.
Those who frequent the Selfic painting gallery at the Damanhur Crea center know the sensation of walking around the gallery and feeling like you are in the midst of dozens of different televisions. Then, at a certain point, you feel called by one or more of them and you stop in front of a painting. One that has stimulated a voice within, observing, meditating, receiving a message.
Every painting is a creature, gifted with a two-dimensional body and a large aura, with which you can enter into dialog. Many who are passionate about this genre of painting, spiritual researchers, have acquired numerous paintings and have used them to create real meditation rooms. In these spaces, you may amplify your sensitivity,  reflect and relax, communicate with hidden aspects of yourself, thanks to the mediation of the paintings themselves.
Falco embarked upon the pathway of painting when he was still a young boy. Now, he has opened Selfic painting to the wider public for about 20 years now, as is his style, offering an instrument that others may learn how to interact with in different ways, depending on your personality and sensitivity.
More living creatures than mandalas, Selfic paintings are a window into another dimension of perception that connects the infinitely distant with the infinitely near. Those who explore this know that wanting to distinguish between that which is far away and that which is near can be an act of extreme presumption, or an act of extremely deep awareness. Art offers us an idea of the point of equilibrium between the two positions and which direction to choose. It's up to us to decide.

Stambecco Pesco
from Re Nudo 12, Spring 2011