From the Inland to the Sea.
(dedicated to Clara)
(dedicated to Clara)
As historically established, the history of Sicily is strongly characterized by the succession of dozens of peoples on its territory. Attracted by its rich natural resources, commercial potential, and the beauty of the places, they settled there, generating economy and culture, just as some Sicilian entrepreneurs do today, with Francesco Giostra Reitano being an exemplary testimony. Each of them managed to bring new wealth which, skillfully mixed with the existing ones, continually pushed dynamically towards the birth and rebirth of the cultural territories, creating deep layers of absolute value. This is the case of the territory of Messina.
Interestingly (but necessarily), each of these realities had a common denominator in their diversity: they were all peoples who arrived by sea, precisely because Sicily is an island. Even if they ended up settling in the innermost parts of the large Mediterranean Island, they could only do so after facing long and dangerous sea crossings.
This pattern absolutely includes Messina and Piano Torre, as demonstrated through the tangible and intangible artistic heritage that so strongly characterizes it.
The work Talat (dedicated to Clara)
Description:
And so the installation in question takes shape, becoming a small but effective manifesto of these dynamics and this presence. The work aims to convey, through its formal characteristics, the historical and cultural contact the territory has with the sea, but it also testifies and helps to understand how this is a fundamental part of the cultural roots of the places.
From the land, therefore, three artifacts rise, materializing by germinating, ideally flowing from the ground, symbolically bringing both the generative power of the land (the green wooded nature) and that of the water (the sea) as renewing forces; they are forces that embody the dynamics of the cultures that have alternated, the wealth they have been able to generate, and that still today can show us the way to a positive future.
The work is composed of three vertical elements of different heights, made with a combination of materials (fiber-reinforced resin, iron, and natural mineral oxides), capable of giving solidity and evocative power; they present themselves as the meeting of transparency and solidity, lightness and strength, also thanks to the use of artistic techniques and effects that refer to those that made the historical productions of the territory famous.
Placed directly on the ground, they also refer to a rich archaeological testimony of our land. A choice that represents “the will to emerge, to rise again from the land itself.” It is from this concept that the name of the installation derives: “Talat,” which comes from Arabic and means precisely “beginning.”