Books & Illustrations
The simplicity of her drawings, so essential and poetic, had touched me immediately and I was sure that those little houses, those stars, those objects, almost ingenuous in their simplicity should have become animated, flown in the sky, transformed themselves in other forms, disappeared and appeared again…
And his is the charm of Barbara Duran’s world, as she takes us to our first childhood, where we rediscover a world once forgotten, but which stayed in a little corner within ourselves, and we feel light, light as her characters between earth and sky. Even her writing is light and delicate as her watercolours, and she helps us, not to understand the drawings, which speak for themselves, but to give a name to a dog, a chicken, a flower, to suggest a path, an action, to stimulate our fantasy…
Emanuele Luzzati
Preface of Duran’s Book “Racconti Minimi”
Poetry
By Barbara Duran
Poetry has by its nature the grace to give itself to everyone, to lead them to the elsewhere of the word destined to last and of the thought that makes the days of life clear and full. So, in these books on the road, in their verses, in their sentences, we will find the much that we carried inside unexpressed, the closeness of those who revealing reveals us to ourselves. And we will give voice to feelings that quivered behind walls of silence, we will cross worlds that belong to us and that never before we had even glimpsed. Each of these books was born as a common good and a fresh start.
Elio Pecora
Fiabe Tuareg
Tuareg Tales 2002
To talk about Barbara Duran’s recent paintings, that is, mainly, works of the last three years, means to explore the world of an artist with quite contrasting interests: for example some of her illustrative creations, as the recent “Tuareg Folk Tales”. These are not illustrations as we generally intend, but real fragments of painting,
Domenico Guzzi
Fiabe Tuareg
ILLUSTRATED BY BARBARA DURAN | EDITED BY L. RIVAILLÉ AND P.M. DECOUDRAS | 2002
An original anthology of Tuareg tales, fully illustrated in color by Barbara Duran, in which reality and imagination, comedy and tragedy, mix with core values and fears of this proud and noble people. A nomadic, errant population fascinating for its way of life, uneffected by the passage of time. Tuaregs have a hard existence based on the few resources offered by the immense spaces of sand. A way of living that induces mysticism and meditation. Most of these tales have been part of Tuaregs’ oral lore, transmitted from one generation to another. Each tale is unique, an extraordinary reflection of their culture, traditions and legacy. A wonderful book for children, but also for adults eager to get to know this amazing civilization,
