Alessandro “Etsom” Conti has painted “Nelle nostre mani” on the façade of a secondary school in Mozzo, near Bergamo. In the mural, a dove takes shape from leaves and flowers, with many hands gathered around it. The municipality commissioned the work, which was inaugurated on October 10, 2026, alongside the naming of a nearby Parco della Pace.
The dove’s outline becomes more intricate up close. Etsom describes its leaves and flowers as delicate elements, some appearing ready to break away. He wanted to represent peace as beautiful but fragile: something that cannot be secured once and for all, and must instead be continually maintained and protected.
The hands complicate that familiar symbol. At first they seem to hold the bird safely in place; they might also grip too tightly or obstruct it. For Etsom, that uncertainty connects peace to freedom. Care can become possession, he suggests, if it cannot make room for differences. The title, which translates as “In Our Hands,” points to both human responsibility and the contradictions that can put peace at risk.
Etsom also placed an olive leaf and a thyme flower within the dove. He describes them as a reference to Palestinian poet Mahmoud Darwish, and dedicated a thought to people suffering in Palestine. The small botanical details carry that reference within the larger image rather than separating it from the mural’s central form.
The painting occupies the façade of the P. Brolis secondary school on Via A. Piatti. Its inauguration formed part of the municipality’s October 10 programme, which continued at a park on Via Valle Quisa newly named Parco della Pace. At the school, the mural’s two scales remain its sharpest detail: a dove recognizable from a distance, assembled from vulnerable pieces that reward a closer look.
Images via @alessandroetsom on Instagram.