Abstracts

Letizia Masia (Bio)

Simone Weil and Maria Lai: the blue ribbon as a symbol of hospitality

Is it possible to identify an ethical paradigm of hospitality within the philosophy of Simone Weil? Moreover, can such a paradigm be conceived—and enacted—within the framework of today’s hyper-capitalist society? In Note Sur La Suppression Générale Des Partis Politiques, Weil adopts a sharply critical stance toward contemporary society, characterized by the dominance of the collective over the individual, a conflation of means and ends, and a loss of orientation towards what ought to remain sacred to humanity: the Good. As critics have pointed out, Weil’s concept of the impersonal emerges as fundamental in articulating a paradigm of hospitality ethics. As clearly emerges in La Personne Et Le Sacré, constitutes the dimension in which human dignity is affirmed: it is the space of attention to the other and the expectation of Good. It is this dimension that underpins individual actions oriented toward welcoming and hospitable relations with alterity. What role art might play within this framework? Can art be considered a sacred space for the unfolding of the impersonal? An affirmative response would expand the aesthetic dimension to encompass an ethical perspective, thereby orienting this contribution toward the poetic horizon of Maria Lai’s art. The central element of Lai’s work lies in its ethical sense: art for Lai has and generates social value. The emblematic example of Legarsi Alla Montagna (1981), realized through a five-kilometres-long blue ribbon, exemplifies this dynamic by engaging the whole community of Ulassai (IT), generating a collective experience characterized by a sense of union, reception, and hospitality. The aim of this contribution is to interpret the blue ribbon of Maria Lai’s Legarsi Alla Montagna as a symbol of hospitality and connection, through the Weilian ethical paradigm of hospitality.