Pietro Rigamonti

THE PUPPET

Thanks to the collaboration with the Mauceri family, puppeteers of Syracuse, we worked on the design and creation of a set for the myth of Alpheus and Arethusa. The set is composed of a series of 5 veils that accompany the myth in its various stages. The fluidity of the water is represented by the freely moving  fabrics.. The narration on canvas recalls the billboards used to show the plot of the work outside the theatre. The changes of state, the transformations and the union are represented through an abstraction of languages that leaves the interpretation of the myth open to the spectator. The spring, the source of life, becomes the papyrus paper that arises from its waters. The light structure frames the space, allowing  its borders to be crossed, a backdrop ready to adapt to multiple  future panoramas. The puppets come to life, narrating the myth.


MATERIALS ATLAS

A collection of fragments, recovered from the sea-beds of Ortigia, which highlights the multiplicity of origins that shape the local cultural identity. A collection of pieces from flooring or interior finishes, which puts  fragments and the still visible works that make Sicily an architectural icon on the same level. What unites  the fragments are the marks left on them by human hands: the local artifacts are proof of a millenary legacy, kept alive by local artisans, of craft skills and techniques  that arrived from overseas. In several cases  it has been difficult to find the original materials used to  make the fragments because they derive from  processes and know-how that were later lost due to interrupted intercultural connections and insufficient market demand to keep the production chains active in the area. These knowledge gaps  underline  the importance  of sharing  the symbolic resistance of  these fragments  with respect to the fragility of the contemporary, in order to favor continuity with the past, even when accompanied by  change, rather than a clean break.

Pietro Rigamonti