We are still dreaming by Matteo Trevisan

The NO TAV sign on the viaduct ... 2022. Venaus Piedmont Piemonte

The NO TAV sign on the viaduct of the E70 motorway connecting Italy and France near Venaus. Venaus (Turin), Italy, December 2022. -- La scritta NO TAV sul viadotto dell’autostrada E70 che collega l’Italia alla Francia nei pressi di Venaus. Venaus (Torino), Italia, dicembre 2022. Venaus Piedmont Piemonte

"We are still dreaming"

What does it mean to live a life that forces you to always question the goodness of your country's institutions and that leads you to consider the figures who should protect you as a threat to your freedom?

"We are still dreaming" is a visual investigation of the community of young people under 30 who live in the Susa Valley, one of the wildest alpine valleys in Italy. This place holds the record for being the most militarized place in the country and for hosting the longest lasting protest movement ever in Italy: the No Tav.

The movement, originated in the early 90s, aims to oppose the construction of the high-speed railway line Turin-Lyon, considered a waste of public money and a harm to the territory.

In over 30 years of work and projects not even one meter of the 12,5 km of tunnels foreseen – which should serve the passage of the trains - has been realized.

With my project " We are still dreaming " I have visited and met many people from the community and tell my story of their struggle through their faces and surroundings. An intimate narrative of this new generation of young people who have never known a life without struggles, denunciations, arrests and protests.

Clashes between antagonist grou...2. San Didero Piedmont Piemonte

Clashes between antagonist groups and the police at the end of the 8 December demonstration near the San Didero presidium. To the throwing of fireworks and stones, the police responded with tear gas and water cannon jets. San Didero (Turin), Italy, December 2022. -- Scontri tra gruppi antagonisti e le forze dell’ordine al termine della manifestazione del 8 dicembre nei pressi del presidio di San Didero. Al lancio di fuochi d’artificio e sassi, la polizia ha risposto con lacrimogeni e getti di idranti. San Didero (Torino), Italia, dicembre 2022. San Didero Piedmont Piemonte

A 22 years old boy from the &am...aly. © Matteo Trevisan

A 22 years old boy from the "Giovani NO TAV" movement – who prefers to remain anonymous - holds the movement's flag on one of the mountain peaks surrounding the Susa Valley. Many young people who are part of the movement are under a lot of pressure from the police.
March 2022, Valsusa, Turin, Italy. © Matteo Trevisan

View of the Chiomonte TAV const...aly. © Matteo Trevisan

View of the Chiomonte TAV construction site, located under the E70 motorway.
According to the latest updates of the TAV project, here is where the tunnel for the high-speed trains linking Turin and Lyon is going to emerge. The area is completely militarized, surrounded by two lines of barbed wire barriers, and to enter the construction site it is necessary to pass two armed checkpoints.
March 2022, Chiomonte, Torino, Italy. © Matteo Trevisan

Micol, 21 years old, at the per...aly. © Matteo Trevisan

Micol, 21 years old, at the permanent NO TAV presidium in San Didero. "How do I imagine the valley without the TAV? I imagine it without the fear of being constantly stopped by police checkpoints, I imagine not being afraid of waking up one morning and discovering that I have a drill under my house. I imagine not being afraid anymore that the place I live and love will be devastated.
March 2022, San Didero, Torino, Italy. © Matteo Trevisan

The signs of a fire, presumed t...aly. © Matteo Trevisan

The signs of a fire, presumed to be intentional, that destroyed part of the
permanent NO TAV presidium in San Didero.
March 2022, San Didero, Torino, Italy. © Matteo Trevisan

The Olivero Fugera family. The ...aly. © Matteo Trevisan

The Olivero Fugera family. The 67-year-old father, the 62-year-old mother and the two children, Chiara 24 and Edoardo 20, have always been part of the NO TAV movement. The father recently received a search warrant from the local police for charges yet to be defined.
March 2022, Giaglione, Torino, Italy. © Matteo Trevisan

The rock of the mountain emerge...aly. © Matteo Trevisan

The rock of the mountain emerges under the concrete casting inside the Turin-Lyon geognostic tunnel. The geognostic tunnel will be used to transport the ventilation system, the electricity and the water system inside the tunnels that will house the highspeed trains.
March 2022, Chiomonte, Turin, Italy. © Matteo Trevisan

Sofia, 21, inside her room in t...aly. © Matteo Trevisan

Sofia, 21, inside her room in the village of Avigliana. "If I think of a place to which I am very attached, the presidium of Venaus comes to my mind. I like it a lot, perhaps because of its simplicity, and when I go there I feel at home. It may look like a meadow, but it is much more than
that. It is a place of life, struggle and simple joy.
March 2022, Avigliana, Turin, Italy. © Matteo Trevisan

A tear gas fired by the police ...aly. © Matteo Trevisan

A tear gas fired by the police outside the Chiomonte construction site. In the woods around the TAV construction sites it is very easy to find tear gas of various kinds, which are thrown by the police to disperse the demonstrations outside the construction sites.
March 2022, Valsusa, Turin, Italy. © Matteo Trevisan

Nicolò, 23, inside t...aly. © Matteo Trevisan

Nicolò, 23, inside the Tortuga tavern, where he works. The tavern is one of the most important meeting places for the young people of the NO TAV movement who live in the Susa Valley.
December 2021, Bussoleno, Torino, Italy. © Matteo Trevisan

Father and son, both from the N...22. Bussoleno Piedmont Piemonte

Father and son, both from the NO TAV movement, look at old newspaper articles about the movement together with some family photographs. In the photograph in the box, the boy, now 24, as a child together with other adults from the movement place a new NO TAV flag. Bussoleno (Turin), Italy, December 2022. -- Padre e figlio, entrambi del movimento NO TAV, riguardo vecchi articoli di giornale relativi al movimento assieme ad alcune fotografie di famiglia. Nella fotografia nel cofanetto il ragazzo, ora di 24 anni, da bambino assieme ad altri adulti del movimento posizionano una nuova bandiera NO TAV. Bussoleno (Torino), Italia, dicembre 2022. Bussoleno Piedmont Piemonte

Gaia, aged 23, in her room. &am...22. Giaglione Piedmont Piemonte

Gaia, aged 23, in her room. "My first memory of the movement was around 2006, during a demonstration at Seghino. I remember that day was peaceful and happy; me, my sister Chiara and my brother Edoardo were excited to participate in it in the company of our new dog, still a puppy. Of the day itself I don't remember many details, except for the tiredness of walking those uphill paths and the happiness of arriving at the destination all together. I remember a photo, which seeing it again makes me smile, of our new puppy who, exhausted, fell asleep covered by a NO TAV scarf. Giaglione (Turin) Italy, March 2022. -- Gaia, di 23 anni, nella sua stanza. “Il mio primo ricordo del riguarda il movimento è del 2006 circa, durante una manifestazione al Seghino. Ricordo che quella giornata fu pacifica e felice; io, mi sorella Chiara e mio fratello Edoardo eravamo entusiasti di parteciparvi in compagnia del nostro nuovo cane, ancora cucciolo. Della giornata in sé non ricordo molti dettagli, se non la stanchezza di percorrere quei sentieri in salita e la felicità di arrivare tutti insieme alla meta. Ricordo una foto, che a rivederla mi fa sorridere, del nostro nuovo cucciolo che, stremato, si addormentava coperto da un fazzoletto NO TAV.” Giaglione (Torino) Italia, marzo 2022. Giaglione Piedmont Piemonte

Recognition document of the par...aly. © Matteo Trevisan

Recognition document of the partisan group "Corpo Volontari Della Libertà" inside the Resistance museum in Mompantero. The Susa Valley is historically famous for the importance of its partisan movement, the age of the young people who joined the movement corresponds to the age of the young people who are joining the "Giovani NO TAV" movement today.
March 2022, Val di Susa, Torino, Italy. © Matteo Trevisan

Giorgio, born in 1927, with his...aly. © Matteo Trevisan

Giorgio, born in 1927, with his 29-year-old niece Maria Laura. At the age of 17, Giorgio joined the Val di Susa partisan group, considered one of the most important and largest partisan groups in Italy. To this day he is one of only two partisans still alive in the valley. Despite his age, he still paints, a passion he shares with his granddaughter.
March 2022, Valsusa, Turin, Italy. © Matteo Trevisan

Camilla, 25, inside her house i...aly. © Matteo Trevisan

Camilla, 25, inside her house in Mattie, a hamlet of Bussoleno. "When I was little, we had a hut above Mattei, in Toglie. My grandfather used to tell me that there were partisans here during the war. He was often with them and if the war had gone on he would probably have
joined them. Unfortunately, my grandfather passed away when I was 11 years old, but deep down I always feel him with me because I think he lives on in the mountains he loved so much".
March 2022, Mattie, Torino, Italy. © Matteo Trevisan

The interior of a room in the v...aly. © Matteo Trevisan

The interior of a room in the village of Bussoleno, one of the most important towns in the Susa Valley with almost 6000 inhabitants.
December 2021, Bussoleno, Torino, Italy. © Matteo Trevisan

Sara, 22, inside her room in th...aly. © Matteo Trevisan

Sara, 22, inside her room in the village of San Valeriano. "I was only 5 years old and I didn't understand what the TAV was, I only saw white and red flags walking together. Then my memories were lost. Over the years my family moved away from the NO TAV movement because
police violence was getting stronger and stronger. It was only years later, as a teenager, that I approached the movement again and began to make new memories: moments of struggle and unity, all of us joined by a common goal that warms the heart "
March 2022, San Valeriano, Turin, Italy. © Matteo Trevisan

A view of a manège l...22. Chiomonte Piedmont Piemonte

A view of a manège located a few hundred metres from the HST construction site at Chiomonte. Chiomonte (Turin), Italy, May 2022. -- Vista su un maneggio che sorge a qualche centinaio di metri dal cantiere del TAV di Chiomonte. Chiomonte (Torino), Italia, maggio 2022. Chiomonte Piedmont Piemonte

The caterpillar of the butterfl...aly. © Matteo Trevisan

The caterpillar of the butterfly Zerynthia polyxena Geyer, a protected species and included in the European "Habitats" and the Bern Convention. Considered to be of Community interest, it finds one of its habitats right near the Chiomonte Construction Site. TELT, the company that is working on the construction of the HST, together with the University of Turin, has initiated a research program in order to protect the butterfly's population by trying to move its habitat to another area. In this scientific program, corridors are created in the forest with the plants on which the butterfly feeds. To date, the results of the project are still unclear and the population living near the construction site is potentially in a dangerous situation. May 2022, Chiomonte, Turin, Italy. © Matteo Trevisan

Cenischia stream, which origina...aly. © Matteo Trevisan

Cenischia stream, which originates in the French mountains but flows for much of its course in Italy. May 2022, Novalesa, Turin, Italy. © Matteo Trevisan

A falconer holds a buzzard, a b...aly. © Matteo Trevisan

A falconer holds a buzzard, a bird considered by the oldest traditions to be the messenger and protector of the air and a symbol of freedom. May 2022, Bussoleno, Turin, Italy. © Matteo Trevisan

A Statue of Our Lady, a symboli...te construction site behind it.

A Statue of Our Lady, a symbolic and pilgrimage site by the Catholics for the Valley NO TAV movement, with the Chiomonte construction site behind it.

Alessia, 25, in her house garde...aly. © Matteo Trevisan

Alessia, 25, in her house garden in Chiusa di San Michele. "I remember, years ago, two old ladies with NO TAV handkerchiefs around their necks. During a demonstration they suddenly burst into song and dance to a song of the movement, one of those that no one listens to anymore and that I don't even know. That was perhaps the moment when I understood what it means to be part of this community.
March 2022, Chiusa di San Michele, Turin, Italy. © Matteo Trevisan

A plan inside one of La Credenz...aly. © Matteo Trevisan

A plan inside one of La Credenza's lodgings. La Credenza is a restaurant in Bussoleno but also one of the symbolic places of the NO TAV movement, it is a meeting place and an accommodation where people who come to the valley to meet the movement are hosted.
December 2021, Bussoleno, Torino, Italy. © Matteo Trevisan

Francesco, 25, inside the Mulin...aly. © Matteo Trevisan

Francesco, 25, inside the Mulini, one of the permanent presidios that stands a few metres from the TAV construction site in Chiemonte. "The first strong memory of the movement dates back to the 8th december’s demonstration when the Venaus presidio was recaptured by the
NO TAV movement. We found the presidio all destroyed, clothes everywhere, a few books and a worker's helmet. I still remember holding it in my hands, it was blue and on it was written NO in red spray paint. We still have that helmet at home today.
March 2022, Val di Susa, Turin, Italy. © Matteo Trevisan

The interior of the geognostic ...aly. © Matteo Trevisan

The interior of the geognostic tunnel of the TAV Chiomonte site. Several
environmental studies have shown that inside the mountain there is a large amount of asbestos, a substance which, if not treated appropriately, could cause major health problems for the site workers and the inhabitants of the Susa Valley.
March 2022, Susa Valley, Turin, Italy. © Matteo Trevisan

The San Didero presidium, which...aly. © Matteo Trevisan

The San Didero presidium, which stands a few metres from the homonymous TAV construction site. The construction site is a heavily militarised area. The police is actually guarding an area that is currently empty and devoid of buildings. It is expected that in a couple of years
there will be a car port here and, fearing that the land will be occupied by the NO TAV movement, the police have already occupied the area in advance.
March 2022, Val di Susa, Turin, Italy. © Matteo Trevisan

The barbed wire surrounding the...aly. © Matteo Trevisan

A specimen of the butterfly Zer...aly. © Matteo Trevisan

A specimen of the butterfly Zerynthia polyxena Geyer, preserved at the Department of Biology, University of Turin. May 2022, Turin, Italy. © Matteo Trevisan

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