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THE APE CAR THE ONLY POP WAY TO TRAFFIC
illustrated b/n and colour – photos by Melo Minnella
The three-wheeled Ape – or the Lapa, as it is commonly known in Sicily – is the ultimate democratic vehicle. It accommodates popular creativity, and the notion that objects can be put to use in all kinds of different ways. The Lapa is like a doll whose dresses can be changed at will. This is why it can be turned into an ice cream van, a cab; it can transport vegetables or take your cousins for a ride... From Italy to India, from Vietnam to China the Ape has been constantly reinterpreted and reinvented to match local transport traditions. It is the vehicle that allows people to inhabit the streets in all kinds of different ways, and thus blend into their specific culture. Just like in Sicily, it has become the updated version of the traditional carretto, in India, it has substituted the elephant, but it has also become the altar where the Bollywood versions of ancient sagas are depicted. No other vehicle best represents soft globalization, which does not ruin people's lives but makes it easier while respecting and adapting to the endless diversity of their customs. Indeed, Lape manage to blend into the most exotic contexts and to become integral part of the cityscape and rural environment of any country and does not have the stupid pretension of other cars to take precedence over the environment. The playful approach the text and the images adopt to narrate the Lapa prompts the reader to go beyond the surface of familiar things. With its anthropological approach to everyday life, the book also urges the readers to look at themselves as the primeval anthropological subjects, as "primitives" so to speak.
Franco La Cecla (Palermo 1950), anthropologist and urban theorist, has taught Cultural Anthropologist at Berkeley, Paris, Venice, Bologna and Milan.
Melo Minnella (Mussomeli, 1937) first published his photos in the 1950s in the most important Italian progressive weekly of the time, "Il Mondo" edited by Mario Pannunzio. He has managed as few have done, to document the rich artistic, folkloric and human heritage of Sicily.
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rassegna stampa |
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Mon 17 Aug 2015 - Nuovosoldo.it La lapa il mondo su tre ruote |
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Mon 07 Nov 2011 - La Stampa Il ronzio fashion dell'Ape |
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Mon 03 May 2010 - La Stampa Le due ruote? Meglio davanti |
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Tue 06 Apr 2010 - AT Casa Tutti pazzi per l'ape |
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Sat 13 Feb 2010 - Eco di Bergamo L'Ape: piccola lenta e sobria |
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Thu 17 Dec 2009 - Auto e Design Books |
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Wed 30 Sep 2009 - Corriere Motori Da leggere |
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Sat 19 Sep 2009 - Il Riformista Fenomenologia dell'Ape |
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Sun 13 Sep 2009 - Il Secolo XIX L'Ape, tre ruote proletarie alla conquista del mondo |
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Sat 22 Aug 2009 - TTL La Stampa Il mondo in tre ruote |
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Tue 28 Jul 2009 - L'Unita Passione a Tre ruote, L'Ape |
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Wed 22 Jul 2009 - Terra A spasso per il mondo sulle mitiche tre ruote |
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Sun 05 Jul 2009 - Il Sole 24Ore La saggezza degli oggetti |
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Fri 03 Jul 2009 - Brescia Oggi Pagine Scritte |
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Sat 20 Jun 2009 - La Repubblica I mille volti della lapa |
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Fri 19 Jun 2009 - La Repubblica Tre ruote la leggenda dell'Ape |
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Tue 16 Jun 2009 - Vita Antropologia della Lapa |
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Tue 16 Jun 2009 - Il Tirreno Si viaggiare |
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Tue 16 Jun 2009 - Liberal Elogio dell'Ape |
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materiali |
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Indice - .pdf |
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