Artist Iwona Biskupska

Some collaborations arrive quietly, almost by accident.

We first met Iwona Biskupska at Algeletto. While working away on a laptop, she walked over and said, “I know you — I follow you.” One of those small-town moments where conversations begin easily. When we followed her back later, we realised she wasn’t just a neighbour in the digital sense and a fellow immigrant (she is originally from Poland but has lived more than half her life in Italy) — she was also a wonderful artist with a great passion (and actually holds a PhD in literary and film studies).

So a few weeks later, she joined us for dinner at Casa Alberto to talk about the postcard project, her work, and what Fabriano means to her, as well as handing over her final piece for the project.

That evening, the table carried a slightly Middle Eastern mood: spicy lamb kofta in a rich red sauce, a bright fattoush salad, romanesco with romesco, and small green pies as aperitivo snacks with a Milano Torino (house drink of choice). A bottle of Pecorino from Le Marche tied the evening together, and conversation moved easily between art, place, and life, family, and the possibilities that come when you move from your country of birth.

Iwona has lived in Italy for more than twenty years. Originally from Poland, she came here somewhat by chance, with an academic mind and great drive. Out of university, a company in Fabriano was the first to offer her a job… the rest is history: an Italian husband, two wonderful boys (now young men). Fabriano was simply where that first door opened.

“I said yes,” she tells us. “And that, yes, turned into a life.”

Today, Fabriano holds many layers of meaning for her. It’s where her children were born — a place that will shape their lives in ways she speaks about with pride. But it’s also a city she values professionally and culturally.

“It’s a small inland city, but it connects to the world,” she says. “You can work with people from Mexico, Poland, America — and then you walk back into the old centre.”

She talks about the town with a mixture of admiration and affection: its traditions, its paper heritage, its watercolour history, its museums, the artists who have always found their way here.

“It’s a luxury in Italy to find a place like Fabriano,” she says. “It’s authentic. It’s not a tourist city. It’s a real place where Italians live their lives.”

For Iwona, the connection to the postcard project came instantly.

“I fell in love with the idea straight away,” she says. “The enthusiasm behind it felt very familiar to me.”

Her work often moves between felt pens, ink, and watercolour — mediums that allow both structure and spontaneity. While she once worked more with acrylics, today she prefers materials that keep drawing at the centre of the process.

“I have great respect for drawing with pencil,” she says. “Everything begins there.”

For the postcard, she wanted to capture something recognisably Italian, but also something personal — a small gesture of connection between places.

“As foreigners living here, we sometimes have this dream of Italy,” she explains. “La dolce vita, beautiful things everywhere. But the reality is also layers — new things built on old things, life continuing through history.”

Her postcard reflects that idea: a greeting sent from Fabriano that carries both imagination and reality.

In a way, that is exactly what postcards do.

When we ask who she might send one to, she smiles.

“It might sound a little sentimental,” she says, “but probably my parents in Poland. They come here quite often, and I know they might miss this place when they’re away.

And there’s one friend of mine who still hasn’t managed to visit.”

She pauses, then laughs.

“Maybe a postcard will finally convince her to come.”