Mediterranean Sea of cultures

When my friend Angelo Ventimiglia asked me a collaboration in order to present a new piece for the exhibition – convention Mediterranean Sea of Cultures in Cosenza on 24^th October, I was overwhelmed by work for the other exhibition – Traces, my first personal – that was opening on 25^th October...

I thought I could never do it. But, I couldn't resist to this calling! I am from Sicily, the Pearl of Mediterranean Sea and I had to tell my point of view.

“Mediterranean Sea of Cultures” sounds like a sentence made for me, a Sicilian transplanted in Venice.

When I think about the socio-political environment of a thousand years ago, when Jewish, Arabian and Christian people lived peacefully together in our region, I can't but immerse into tradition. I feel like drunk, not with wine, but with inspiration. So let my soul speak!

The piece conceived for this exhibition takes inspiration from the Palatine Chapel in Palermo and from Ruggero II, the first King of Sicily.

Ruggero was a liberal king, he hosted the most eminent philosophers of his time in a background characterized by cultural syncretism: a wildest dream!

The Palatine Chapel perfectly represents this spirit: there are several traces of Arabian architecture (the ogival arch and the roof with painted wood muqarnas) combined with Greek and Latin architectural features.

Gold and colors give us a marvellous masterpiece. Well, I must say that I know the Chapel like the back of my hand and I can read all the hidden symbols, but I am still deeply touched by this harmony of cultures.

But let me show you all the symbols represented in our piece.

We thought about two rotated squares, like the Palatine Chapel coffer, in order to compose an eight pointed star. In the central spaces, on the diagonal lines, you can recognize the symbols of the king's power in Eastern and Western cultures: the lions, the eagle and the hawk (Venice, Egypt, Roman Empire, Sacred Roman Empire).

Then, on the vertical line, there is the portrait of Ruggero II, the founder of the Reign of Sicily; on the other side, Jesus Christ crowning him.

On the horizontal line the extreme limits of the Mediterranean Sea are represented: on the left, the Pillars of Hercules marking the Strait of Gibraltar limit; on the opposite side, the myth of the Golden Fleece recalls the extreme limits on the Black Sea.

The hearth of the artpiece is represented by the Idrisi's map. Idrisi was an Arabian geographer, he composed the first map of the Mediterranean Sea for Ruggero II.

And how could I forget the Maritime Republics? The symbols of these cities appear in the four corners.

In the end, we wanted to stress out the concept of the artwork also with words; so we wrote Mediterranean Sea of Cultures on the perimeter of the eight-pointed star in different languages: Arabian, Italian, ancient Greek, Latin, Jewish, English. This is the key concept of the piece.

When I look at it, written in the gold, twisting and turning like a ribbon, it seems to me like a pray, a sort of multilingual mantra reminding us that the Mediterranean Sea connects and does not divides.

I want to thank all the friends who helped me with the translations; without them this piece couldn't be realized.