And it could only be like this from a mind and a creative hand like that of the artist from Salento, who has worked and lived in Metaponto and Bernalda all his life, with that work donated to the Matera Police Headquarters. It was placed in the right place, in the Palatucci room of the Police Headquarters, which boasts, starting with the commissioner Emma Ivagnes, a hardworking presence from Salento who with humility and commitment is appreciated by the local community. After all, Matera culturally and historically belongs to the Terra d’Otranto. A natural relationship that continues and Salvatore Sebaste, from Novoli (Lecce), like other peers from the art world who have settled in our area, and we all mention Vittorio Manno and Angelo Rizzelli founders of Grafica in via Sette Dolori, confirm this inseparable relationship. The gift of a work, created 25 years ago, conceived in the open air, in a wheat field among the chirping of crickets – as Sebaste said during the delivery ceremony – expresses values and a particular energy evident in the traces that mark the painting. “They are harmonious tracks – commented the artist – as if they were music. Today that harmony is missing in today’s society and, unfortunately, I had predicted this involution for 25 years. We are, in many ways, facing a social disaster. Man must reflect and recover the relationship with nature and with others, cultivating peace and study”. Invitation to reflection. Sebaste looks to the future, to the many works he created which will hopefully remain as a legacy to the local community and with adequate valorisation. Speranza is one of the many “S”s in his life, in his name and surname, and in that “Salentina” matrix that he brought with him to Basilicata.
MATERA POLICE HEADQUARTERS
PRESS RELEASE
The artist Salvatore Sebaste donates a work to the State Police. The Police Commissioner and the Matera Authorities were present at the ceremony.
Special day today at the Police Headquarters, where there was the delivery of the work “Salti mediatici”, donated to the State Police by the Lucanian artist Salvatore Sebaste. The event, which took place in the Sala Palatucci, was attended not only by the Police Commissioner Emma Ivagnes, but also by the Prefect Cristina Favilli, the Mayor Domenico Bennardi, accompanied by the Councilor Tiziana D’Oppido, the President of the Province Piero Marrese and the Public Prosecutor Alessio Coccioli .
Furthermore, the provincial Commanders of the Carabinieri and the Financial Police, the Commander of the Local Police, the Commander of the Penitentiary Police and the Director of the Prison, as well as the President of the Matera section of the ANPS – National Association of the State Police, also spoke. . Also present was Dr. Caterina Rotondaro, psychologist from the social services of the Municipality of Matera.
The Police Commissioner Emma Ivagnes heartily thanked the artist Salvatore Sebaste for the beautiful gift given to the State Police, explaining that the location of the Sala Palatucci, linked to the Police Commissioner of Fiume, martyr in the concentration camp of Dachau, to allow as many people as possible to admire it, interpret it, study it.
Salvatore Sebaste, born in 1939, originally from the province of Lecce and Bernaldese by adoption, president of the “La Scaletta” club from 1975 to 1977, is an artist of international standing, who continues to carry out an intense pictorial, graphic and sculptural activity in the studios of Bernalda, Bologna and Milan. Salvatore Sebaste greeted those present, thanking the Police Commissioner and the State Police for the sensitivity shown towards the diffusion of culture. He added that – as for the Greeks, who left their mark on this land from the times of Magna Graecia and founded their civilization on art (architecture, painting, sculpture), philosophy and literature – culture has a educational purpose and must be available to everyone: this is why his works are exhibited in public buildings, churches, museums and squares.
Among the guests there was also Caterina Rotondaro, who, as a psychologist of the Municipality’s social services, frequently collaborates with the Flying Squad in carrying out investigative activities related to crimes against people and minors. It was she who facilitated the meeting of Master Sebaste with the Police Commissioner, which gave rise to the donation.
“Salti mediatici” is a large pictosculpture (4.15 x 1.25 m) created in 2000 with mixed media. “Dominated by a warm, full-bodied and dense light, it is a body that seeks a “return to order” in space, passing through a Matissian sign that finds an indispensable harmony in the almost monochrome. Once again we find in Sebaste’s pictosculpture a horizontal desire to describe his reality, in a condition of total autonomy that allows those who observe it, the artist’s truth, his ability to synthesize temporal dimensions, his ability to grasp and interpret what exists through the dimension of listening and observation, from which his singular and precious relationship with his land shines through.” (Caterina Rotondaro)
The work will remain inside the Sala Palatucci of the Matera Police Headquarters, where the press conferences and the Technical Roundtables chaired by the Police Commissioner, provincial public security authority with a technical/operational connotation, take place on the occasion of the organization of public order services particularly relevant. And it is precisely for the organization of services connected to the celebrations in honor of Maria SS. Della Bruna, that the work will be admired for the first time.
