The peasant world seen by the artist Maria Cristina Sallese on display in L’Aquila – Virtù Quotidiane

L’AQUILA – Passing on peasant culture to new generations through paintings, songs and poems is possible if the artist is Maria Cristina Sallesea woman from Casalbordino (Chieti), daughter of farmers, who lived by simultaneously cultivating the land and her passion for art.

His “spiritual legacy” is on display in L’Aquila, at the Palazzetto dei Nobili until June 23, with the exhibition “M. Cristina – farmer, painter, poet and singer-songwriter”.

“She was an all-round artist – he tells Daily Virtues Gino Antognetti, son of Maria Cristina, who set up and curated the exhibition -. He did not limit himself only to one form of expression and put a personal and acute gaze into his art. He had a strong critical streak, which can be seen above all in his poems, and he loved music very much: his parents had a great influence on this passion and he always said that they sang stanzas of ditties to each other while they were in the fields ”.

The colorful paintings of “M. Cristina” stand out on the bare walls of the lower floor of the building. A naive style, for the use of colors and for the simplification of the figures, but with a detailed depiction of rural life: the paintings are the mirror of the rural reality of the province but also of the historical era in which Sallese lived. Each painting has an internal story, like theatrical scenes fixed on canvas and some are given voice through the poems and songs that the artist wrote in her dialect, the lyrics of which are posted next to her paintings.

“It represented what he knew – specifies Antognetti –, scenes of daily life from the plowing of the fields to the harvesting of grapes in the vineyards, from the oxen pulling the carts to the tobacco plantations, glimpses of the cities in which he lived, including the city of L’Aquila, up to the kitchens in which he represents people intent on preparing simple, traditional dishes, such as sagne, made with water and flour, and seasoned with tomato”.

An entire wall of the exhibition is dedicated to the fifteen paintings that depict the verses of the song “Lamento del peasant”, written in 1979, performed on several occasions by the composer and shown on video during the inauguration.

“It talks about false myths that still exist today about the way of farmers. From the outside they are often defined as lucky people who live outdoors, eat natural, healthy and good foods. Whoever says this, however, has never done this job and doesn’t know the effort behind it. The epilogue of my mother’s song is the manifesto: she says that being a farmer is a bad art but, if everyone changes jobs, after her generation only fields of weeds will remain and she wonders what future generations will eat”, explains Antognetti .

To ensure that traditions are passed down, and that Sallese’s works have an effective role in this process, Antognetti wants to involve schools with a large project that starts with this exhibition in L’Aquila, where his mother lived and where, until the earthquake, he also had an art workshop in Costa Masciarelli.

“This will be the first stage of a long project that aims to introduce young people to the past of our region and leave a memory of it. We will also organize other exhibitions with my mother’s prolific production, one of which will be held at the Museo delle Genti d’Abruzzo in Pescara”, concludes Antognetti.

During the inauguration, last June 7th, the councilor for equal opportunities of the Municipality of L’Aquila was present for institutional greetings Ersilia Lancia and on Saturday 8 June a round table was held on the theme “how to pass on peasant culture”, with interventions by Lia Giancristofaroprofessor of Cultural Anthropology at the University of Chieti, Antonio Matarelliformer mayor of Calascio, Antonio Portoeconomist, professor of economics and law and writer, e Giuliano Di Gaetanodirector of the museum of artisan traditions of Tossicia (Teramo). Ilaria Micari

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