November 2016, Year VIII, n. 11
Renato Ladeiro
The second (or third) life of the Ape-car
Telos: Tuk-tuks in Portugal. Where did you get this innovative idea to provide a new service to tourists?
Renato Ladeiro: In 2002 I was in Thailand on a business trip. One day in Bangkok I saw so many auto rickshaws I decided to take one instead of a taxi (when in Rome do as the Romans do!). Tuk-tuk, taxi, another tuk-tuk... this is all you see when you walk around noisy, chaotic Bangkok. I love Bangkok, I love the feeling of freedom it gives me and I adore its controlled chaos. Tuk-tuks are the backbone of this chaos ...more
Editorial
The horse-drawn cart is one of the most famous iconographic symbols of Sicilian folklore: first used as a means of transport, thanks to the decorations portraying moments in the history of the island, popular epics or religious stories it has evolved into a vehicle to transmit culture. When the Sicilians realised they had to find a modern version of the cart they shifted to the Ape-car, but didn’t forget to continue the decorations tradition and turn the lapa (the Sicilian dialect word that indicates the Ape-car) into a genuine, roving work of art (a mythical, wobbly lapa azzura was used by Nanni Moretti, in the film Caro Diario, during his tragicomic journey amongst the gentle hills, donkeys and cacti in the Aeolian islands) ...more
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