Damiano Taurino comes from Salento, a region in Apulia which people often call the “boot heel” of Italy – an area in which the Greek and Messapian cultures mixed in ancient times, and which has been steeped in historical and mythological tales and traditions from time immemorial. This region, he says, still influences him today, even though he spent a portion of his schooldays and all his professional training in faraway Switzerland. Since returning to Italy in 1981, he has been living and working in Cesena in Emilia-Romagna.