“Taking Shape” NYU Student Writing Prize Winners: NiccolòAcram Cappelletto

November 10, 2020

Congratulations to Azeki Ali, first place winner in the Grey Art Gallery’s NYU Undergraduate Writing Prize competition; Amelia Grace Annen, second place winner; and NiccolòAcram Cappelletto, honorable mention. The Prizes were awarded for the best essay or poem by an NYU undergraduate student in response to the exhibition Taking Shape: Abstraction from the Arab World, 1950s–1980s, which was on view at the Grey from January 14 to March 13, 2020. The show was forced to close early due to COVID-19, and entrants worked from the full suite of images, gallery labels, and other resources placed on the Grey’s website. The contest judge was Lucy Oakley, Head of Education and Programs at the Grey.

Mohammed Khadda (Mostaganem, Algeria, 1930–Algiers, 1991), Abstraction vert sur fond orange (Green Abstraction on
Orange Background), 1969. Oil on canvas, 28 3/4 x 23 5/8 in. Collection of the Barjeel Art Foundation, Sharjah, UAE. From the exhibition Taking Shape:
Abstraction from the Arab World, 1950s–1980s

Untitled
by NiccolòAcram Cappelletto

As I walk I see the Void,
I am not empty, and I am not soil
I try to look beyond my forms
Aiming towards the sky above my head
Above the clouds, and above the earth
Mother and father of this home
And above me
Just the stars

I take a step into your colors,
Please save me from this abyss

As I walk I see the Shape,
In many hues, the sound of a flower
I call your name but you are long gone
Passing through the memories
Shouting for my name in despair
I came to stay alone with you
But at the wrong time, at the wrong space
And above me
Just the stars

I take a step into your colors,
Please be there when I fall

As I walk I see the Dawn,
Meant to be a new start, again this life
A desert around and a palm
A city on the horizon and the museum
Where I store our letters of love
Preserved on the island inside of me
You were the ship, you were the port
And above me
Just the stars

NiccolòAcram Cappelletto is a senior at NYU Abu Dhabi, majoring in Art and Art History. He expects to receive his BA in 2021.