Cesare Cremonini under the arcades at the inauguration of the “Luci a San Luca” project he created
The archbishop of Bologna, Cardinal Matteo Zuppi, president of the CEI, was also there the other evening at the general rehearsal of “Luci a San Luca”, the artistic project conceived and wanted by the singer-songwriter Cesare Cremonini which from 5 to 9 June will see at least one hundred thousand people, not only from Bologna, go under the famous porticoes of the Sanctuary of San Luca, a UNESCO heritage site for three years. «Bologna is the city where you can walk in light – wrote Cesare Cremonini on his social networks the day after the inauguration -. Light as a symbol of hope, but above all of confidence in ourselves. An art installation is not entertainment, it is vision, immersion, discovery, sharing. Being an artist today, in my opinion, goes through a constant dialogue with people, with other artists, with the constant flow of emotions that we experience and that we have no time or voice to express. “You like Me”. This is the title I gave to this edition. All the art that can be created revolves around these three words. We proceed through visions. Thank you all”.
That “You like Me” of Starfish that Cremonini had sung two years ago, live and in a single, “with” a virtual Lucio Dalla, raising to the umpteenth power the strength of a “twin” masterpiece of the coming year And Anna and Marco. These five bright days in Bologna along the longest portico in the world (about three kilometers in length), the one that leads from Meloncello (near the Dall’Ara stadium) to the Sanctuary of the Beata Vergine di San Luca, are an event of communion and beauty that takes place from dusk to dawn, in a sort of secular pilgrimage and in an ideal embrace that underlines a spontaneous desire for sharing around art.
«I am happy because this project, on which hundreds of people worked for an entire year – writes Cremonini, who called the German artist Philipp Frank to his side for the realization -, reflects the desire to break down divisions and rediscover a shared trait to truly travel together.” Through lights and colors the project reflects the feelings of a city in a very important year made up of goals and celebrations: from the 150th anniversary of the birth of Bolognese Guglielmo Marconi to Bologna’s historic qualification in the Champions League 60 years after the last scudetto.
The “Luci a San Luca” installation is a sort of fusion between natural landscape and plays of light for a total of over 300 illuminated arches. All accompanied by the unreleased music that Cremonini wrote for the occasion. Golden moment for the Bolognese artist. A few days after having celebrated the 25th anniversary of his iconic song 50 Special which with Lunapop had launched him into the firmament of national pop, Cesare received the Silver Tower of the Municipality of Bologna from the mayor Matteo Lepore for his 25 years of career. Cremonini has a special attachment to his hometown: from his commitment to his friend and colleague Gianni Morandi in raising funds for the safety of the Garisenda Tower, to his love for the red-blue football colours, right up to the project “Lights in San Luca. «Every day I spend in my city, I fall more deeply in love with it. Bologna is the only place in the world that holds together all our past and all our hopes.”
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