The workers’ work tables are full of drawings, sketches and prototypes of the architecture that from Sunday 31 March will triumph on the streets of the small town in the province of Agrigento: i masterpieces of ephemeral art made on the occasion of Easter bows 2024 little by little they take shape inside the warehouse-workshops through a creative journey enjoyable by all that combines artisan knowledge, myth, religious tradition and contemporary spirit. The spaces are in fact open every day to visits by tourists and curious people called back every year by the desire to discover the only example of collective folk art in Sicily and guarantee an experiential offer conveyed by the local inhabitants, capable of leading between pistachio groves and art workshops, explorations in nature, museums of local artisan knowledge and tastings of zero kilometer production.
In the weeks preceding the unveiling of the colossal works – created in great secrecy by the members of the two brotherhoods, that of Madunnara and gods Signurara, devoted respectively to the Madonna and the Risen One – the citizens are busy finding the fundamental materials for construction: the collection of willows and reeds to weave, legumes and cereals for the creation of the majestic mosaics. The absolute protagonist of the decorations is bread, destined for the most curious shapes thanks to the inventiveness of the inhabitants of the town who manage to decline the artistic creations inspired this year by the theme “Peace and Love”.
From the morning of Easter Sunday, the miracle of the revitalization of a town of just 3000 souls takes place for an entire month, with the arrival of thousands of visitors: a reversal of trend which, although temporary, has broad repercussions on the well-being of the community. local economy for a community that makes its history and tradition the banner of its identity. Inland areas are not just silent places, pressed by the grip of depopulation, they can also be strong attractors if they are aware of their specificity and transform it into opportunities, a development engine for the local economy.
“The Easter arches show in fact how it is possible to continue to vibrate with vitality and creativity by making art and activate opportunities for cultural contamination by promoting tradition – explains the Mayor of San Biagio Platani Salvatore Di Bennardo – A generational relay ensures that knowledge is passed down from older people to young people, who are in turn capable of inserting elements and tools linked to the contemporary”.
An event also enhanced by the project ReGenerAzioni Arches of the 2030 Planwinner of the Borghi Call promoted by the Ministry of Culture as part of the National Recovery and Resilience Plan (PNRR) aimed at promoting social, cultural and economic growth through the active involvement of all sectors of the community.
A project that is allowing inaccessible places to be returned to the community. “An example is the municipal library, closed for 20 years – explains Di Bennardo – or the creation of new spaces for socializing and exchange such as the camper parking and picnic areas in the Montagna district or coworking stations in the municipal premises adjacent to the permanent laboratories of the Easter Arches, but also recreational places in the theater premises municipality opened with the activation of music and theater workshops and a cultural heritage documentation center with the activation of the Observatory on the intangible cultural heritage of the territory”.
