There is a lot of Puglia in that authentic time machine, which is taking shape with the exhibition «G7: Seven centuries of Italian art» being set up in the Norman-Swabian Castle of Mesagne. The event, organized by the Puglia Micexperience business network, sees the patronage of the Puglia Region and the Municipality of Mesagne, the Taranto-Brindisi Chamber of Commerce and the Puglia Airports and the collaboration between the General Directorate of Museums, the Regional Directorate of Puglia Museums, organizations of the Ministry of Culture, and the Municipality of Mesagne, leader of entities such as the Micexperience Business Network and the Puglia Region, in compliance with the “Puglia Walking Art” Memorandum of Understanding. Organized by the Puglia Micexperience business network – which also successfully proposed the exhibition events «Picasso, the other half of the sky» (2018), «Andy Warhol, the alchemist of the sixties» (2019) in the Mesagne Castle , «The 20th century from Modigliani to Obey», (2021) and again «Caravaggio and his time» (2023) and the biennial festival «Culturare» – the exhibition is the key cultural event of the Apulian summer 2024, which takes starting during the G7 days in Borgo Egnazia and will close its doors on the following 30th November. It enjoys the scientific care of prof. Pierluigi Carofano and will be inaugurated on June 13th, offering a vast and varied audience the possibility of covering 7 centuries of Italian art with effectiveness and wealth of analysis.
And “so much Puglia” is not only verifiable because the chronological path opens with the school of Nicola Pisano – who according to numerous scholars was born in Puglia at the beginning of the 13th century – and ends with the artistic experience of Pino Pascali (1935-1968) , to which the Prada Foundation is dedicating a retrospective in Milan in recent weeks, but also because several Apulian institutions have joined the Puglia Micexperience initiative, allowing the exhibition of works of art from their collection. This is the case of the National Gallery of Puglia «Girolamo e Rosaria Devanna» of Bitonto, of the «Giuseppe De Nittis» Art Gallery of Barletta, of the Provincial Art Gallery of Bari. From the Devanna collection, which includes 354 works including paintings, drawings and sketches dating back to the 16th century to the twentieth century, the «Portrait of a Gentleman» by Tiziano Vecellio (1488/1490 – 1576) and the «Farewell of Christ from his Mother» by Giovanni Lanfranco (1582 – Rome 1647) will be on display in Mesagne. From the «Giuseppe De Nittis» art gallery in Barletta, the «Bust of a woman» and «Dans le monde» by the highly esteemed artist from Barletta (1846-1884) will also come. From the provincial art gallery of Bari, dedicated to Corrado Giaquinto (1703-1766), the «Diomede» by the painter from Molfetta and the «Philosopher» by Francesco Fracanzano (1605-1651) will be exhibited in Mesagne. Finally, the Pino Pascali Foundation of Polignano a Mare has not yet made the loans official, while recent news is that the exhibition organization is willing to study Titian’s “Portrait of a Gentleman” from the Devanna collection in more depth.
Meanwhile, there are 47 days until the inauguration of the exhibition «G7: Seven centuries of Italian art» and the city of Mesagne is in full swing. We work inside the Norman-Swabian castle to prepare the displays and we work outside to structure the welcome of the thousands of people, including several VIPs, who will come to the city to visit the exhibition of the greatest Masters of Italian art lived between the 14th and 20th centuries. Several bookings have been received in hotels and B&Bs that are ready to welcome customers. And then there will be a myriad of events that will entertain guests. Driving the organizational machine is the mayor Toni Matarrelli who day after day ensures that nothing is left to chance. “This great new exhibition promises to be of extraordinary value”, began the mayor -. We have decided to invest resources and energy for the concomitance of the G7 in the land of Brindisi, but also to continue the strategy which has brought excellent results in terms of tourist flows and therefore economic related activities.
Alongside the organization of this splendid exhibition, we are deploying all our planning capacity, for example by proposing Mesagne on the international tourism market as an integrated tourist destination”. The mayor then added: “Today we are able to offer ourselves as an archaeological or religious or food and wine destination, in a system that is now tested and which is refined with experience. Beauty pays off and we are proud to be able to enhance our beauties in the context of one of the most beautiful Italian provinces. The objective, which seems to be achieved year after year, however, is the deseasonalization of tourism: the indicators of presences in the city as well as in the hospitality business throughout the year prove us right”.
The exhibition is organized by the Puglia Micexperience business network, headed by its president Pierangelo Argentieri, with the patronage of the Puglia Region, the Municipality of Mesagne, the Taranto-Brindisi Chamber of Commerce, Puglia Airports and is part of the “Large exhibitions”. Overall, there will be around forty works that will be exhibited in the ancient manor. In recent days the organizers have closed the contract for two works by Canova. These are two large statues that require a crane and special transport to be moved. The works, like the others, will be positioned in the noble hall on the first floor of the Norman-Swabian castle. In the collateral events of the artistic review there will be a focus curated by the general director of the General Directorate of Museums, Massimo Osanna, by the archaeologist official, Luca Mercuri, by the art historian official, Elisabetta Scungio; as well as by the Regional Directorate of Museums of Puglia in the persons of the managing director, Francesco Longobardi. Furthermore, a catalog of the works on display will be created while the municipality of Mesagne already has the “Historical-tourist guides of the city of Mesagne” ready for guests who arrive in the city and want to admire its historical-architectural beauties.
—————
To stay updated with the latest news from the Gazzettino di Brindisi, follow us and “Like” our page Facebook. You can watch the videos published on our channel YouTube.
To write to us and interact with the editorial staff contact us
