TOLD Magazine

20/03/2026

Our next stop is Rome, the neighbourhood of San Lorenzo, where the public project L'albero delle Identità, or the Identity Tree, is forming connections through art. By opening up the mosaic making process to the area, everyone gets a chance to decide which values, memories and ideas they want to add, with a beautiful collection of perspectives as the result.
While the next tree is being completed, our photography collection shows the first project growing and flowering.
Check out the full article on our website: https://toldmagazine.org/articles/the-identity-tree/

As ever, we invite all readers that feel a connection to the article to get in touch and contribute their experiences and ideas, TOLD is always open to new collaborators!

03/03/2026

Our latest article takes us to Casatenovo, and the network of solidarity groups around Italy using knitting and crocheting to bring people together in support of those in need! Simone takes us through the various projects keeping alive the traditions of handmade group manufacturing, and donating garments made with care. Knitting and crocheting play fundamental roles in society, as collective practices for relaxation, learning, and providing, and the more political side of this work is shown by Simone’s interview with Carolina, of “Sferruzzare Solidale” (Knitting in solidarity).

Check out the full article here: https://toldmagazine.org/articles/sferruzzare-sociale-a-close-knit-community/

As ever, we invite all readers that feel a connection to the article to get in touch and contribute their experiences and ideas, TOLD is always open to new collaborators!

27/02/2026

An illustration by we received for an upcoming article that we thought deserved it's own post! Stay tuned for the full article, and find out how communal crocheting can support those in need.

"I have always appreciated metaphors or expressions related to textiles or needlework - weave, patch up, threads, fibres, “inch by inch it’s a cinch,” “a stitch in time saves nine,” mend, tapestry. To me, they express care, intention, continuity, a coming together, a gentle healing.
Perhaps the act itself - the delicate motion of the fingers, the squinting of the eyes, the silence, the poetic meter of pattern, or the thrum of the loom - lends itself to this idea. More than that, in many cultures (especially mine), textiles carry stories and traditions. They are fixtures of a community, whether worn in ceremony or wrapped against the cold.
Simone’s experience affirmed this. What I liked about his story - and the idea of quilting in general - is how each square could be made individually and then combined to form a fabric mosaic: each person, yet part of a whole."

You can find this and other artwork on our website: https://toldmagazine.org

09/12/2025

In our next stop, Priyanka takes us to Nepal with "Between Fire and Flowers," in the aftermath of the youth-led anti-corruption protests that escalated in September, eventually leading to a regime change. Fosca's beautiful illustrations capture some of the energy and transformation at the time.

"As a student living in Italy and doing my Master’s degree, watching the protests back home feels like holding both pride and heartbreak at the same time.
Pride, because our generation finally stood up, raised their voices, and refused to stay silent. We were never meant to shut our mouths. We were born in a democracy, and we have every right to protect it.
But with that pride comes a deep sadness.
Because in this movement, some families lost their sons, daughters, and loved ones.
That is the heaviest part to carry.
From far away, I feel proud of the courage in Nepal’s streets, but I also feel the pain of seeing my country break down piece by piece. It hurts to see how fragile everything has become, how much we are losing, and how far we still need to go.
Still, I believe in us. I believe in the youth who protested. I believe in the families who keep surviving. And I believe that even from abroad, we carry the responsibility to rebuild our nation slowly, honestly, and together.
This moment is both fire and flowers - courage and loss, hope and heartbreak."

You can find Priyanka's poem, as well as other pieces of art and journalism from around the world, all speaking to local development and local perspectives, on our page and our website.

21/11/2025

Our next stop is southern Chile, specifically the Los Lagos Region!

With our first article from Latin America, we meet “Poesía en la Austral”, a social and cultural association that uses poetry to investigate topics of identity, community, and the intrinsic relationship between nature and humans. The unique history of the area gives a special significance to poetry in the Los Lagos Region, with a true regional identity expressed through art.

A powerful article highlighting how words and the choices you make with them can define how you present your environment and your surrounding reality. A story of people and freedom of expression through poetry and storytelling. Read the full article here: https://toldmagazine.org/articles/poesa-identidad-y-desarrollo/

26/10/2025

On Thursday the 30th of October, from 17:00 onwards, TOLD will be holding our next editorial meeting, followed by an aperitivo, open to welcome both new and old writers, readers, editors, and artists to our magazine. All places, stories, and experiences are deserving of recognition– check out our manifesto (pinned post) and if you’d be interested in sharing your tale, contributing to the editing group, or just seeing how TOLD works, we’d love to see you there at the always wonderful Hera Hora!

Also at you can take part in their amazing linguistic and cultural exchange night, every Thursday!

“This is what it means to be an adventurer in our day: to give up creature comforts of the mind, to realize the possibilities of imagination.”
“We need sources where people can go and not be deluded, and not be disempowered, distracted, and individualized.”

21/10/2025

What do fashion and local development have in common?
More than you might think. Fashion can be much more than aesthetics, it can become a way to preserve culture, support artisans, and redefine our relationship with tradition.

Our next stop is Indonesia, where the project Remaja Nusantara (RENUS) shows exactly that. Born to reconnect young people with traditional textiles, it transforms wastra, Indonesia’s heritage cloth, into contemporary pieces, telling stories of identity and community through creativity.
It’s not just about what we wear, but about belonging, remembering, continuing.

A reminder that local style can be global, and that fashion, when done right, doesn’t erase roots, it wears them.
You can find the full article here: https://toldmagazine.org/articles/cut-to-modern-style---indonesian-traditional-cloth-preservation/

15/10/2025

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29/09/2025

23/09/2025

🚲 We’re finishing the TOLD Festival with a tour of our city, but not just to Piazza dei Signori and the Basilica del Santo!

This bike tour takes you around some of the most interesting, refreshing, and radical spaces of the city, where we’ll meet a selection of groups and organisations to start mapping those who working to build social justice in Padova.

Please fill out the form (from the QR code or the link in bio) as soon as possible so we can help you out, if you need to borrow a bike or if you can lend one to a friend - and if you don’t manage to cycle alongside us, we’d love to see you at the finish for an picnic (bring something to share!) at Campo dei Girasoli at around 13.00 (but maybe we’ll be a little slow).

🌻If you don’t manage to join us for our other events, this can be a lovely chance to get to know the city, to get to know us, map interesting social spaces and to close the festival!

Iniziativa finanziata con il contributo dell'Università degli studi di Padova sui fondi previsti per le Iniziative culturali degli studenti.

Initiative funded with the support of the University of Padua, using funds allocated for student cultural initiatives.

22/09/2025

🌊 Friday evening TOLD Fest closes the day with a powerful story of what rivers mean to the people and places that depend on them

Rivers carve our landscapes, feed our soils and carry the memory of the communities along their banks. But the fragile balance between human ambition and the natural flow of water is breaking; dams, industry and extractive projects keep pushing it past the point of return.

Through the documentary In Cammino per l'Acqua, and with the voices of filmmaker Marco Pavan professor Francesco Vallerani and activists from Extinction Rebellion Padova, we'll open a conversation on defending water as a common good. From the march that crossed the Alps to the Venetian lagoon to defend a living river, we'll look at how people in different places rise up when this balance is lost and how they resist, rebuild and reclaim a relationship with nature that puts life before profit.
Film in Italian with English subtitles | live translation wil be possible during the debate (scorrere per locandina in italiano)

🎟️ Free entry, just register through the QR code in the flyer or the link: https://www.eventbrite.co.uk/e/biglietti-told-fest-cineforum-in-cammino-per-lacqua-1702089257789?aff=oddtdtcreator&fbclid=PAQ0xDSwM-XIlleHRuA2FlbQIxMQABp5siengKqJizET_-ecexXOKEjp59fx_p-WPlBQoAJqOg1UqYHvibb5CqC4He_aem_9gbVNIfi-V_PGHqnGc1HPQ

Iniziativa finanziata con il contributo dell'Università degli studi di Padova sui fondi previsti per le Iniziative culturali degli studenti.

Initiative funded with the support of the University of Padua, using funds allocated for student cultural initiatives.

21/09/2025

🌱 Our programme continues on Friday afternoon as we learn from the people that are working to preserve relationships between rural communities and the land.

We’ll be investigating rural communities and their connections with agriculture and food, space and power, as processes of industrialisation and commercialisation threaten to break apart human links, and relationships with the earth and nature. Stefano Pagnin, Francesca Strano, Chiara Trivelli and Maria Zamperetti will share the ongoing fights for territory in the Industrial Zone of Padova, communities coming together to revive small scale agriculture, socially and environmentally sustainable practices that take care of the people and the land, local memory and public art, and the importance of seed sharing in protecting food sovereignty.
We’ll explore their words through a creative workshop developing the ideas of the group, and even if you’ve never set foot in a field before, we’d love for you to contribute!
The event is taking place during the Kick-Off Seminar of the Master in Local Development, organised with Dipartimento di Scienze Storiche, Geografiche e dell'Antichità - Unipd
See you soon!

Iniziativa finanziata con il contributo dell'Università degli studi di Padova sui fondi previsti per le Iniziative culturali degli studenti.

Initiative funded with the support of the University of Padua, using funds allocated for student cultural initiatives.