Antonio Dalla Valle was born in 1939, in  Roncio (Cles), in the Trento province, Italy. From an early age he showed a propensity for isolation and silence. At 13, he was sent as an apprentice to a bricklayer and at 20 he went to work in Germany. He came back in 1962. This experience abroad marks him deeply. He was interned first in Trento then attending various psychiatric structures. His creative production is neither understood nor facilitated in those places. In 1997 Dalla Valle was transferred to Fondazione Sospiro (Cremona) where he could attend La Manica Lunga – the atelier inside the institution. A slightly disconcerting, almost a shamanic figure, he roams his world leaning on the totem-like walking stick that he has fashioned for himself. On his forearm he sports a collection of watches and other prized possessions are carried with him in his bag wherever he goes. Lighters, bits of plastic, sticky tape, ribbons, felt tip pens, note pads filled with his writings and other odd objects picked up here and there: all serve as inspiration. This peculiar traveller’s enigmatic creations are sensitive and subjective, as if reminiscent of maps of unknown lands. Dalla Valle died in March 2020.