On June 28th at 8.00 pm at Luigi Pirandello’s birthplace, the Buttitta Prize will be awarded to the Calapanama painters who have distinguished themselves in recent years with their works and are known throughout the world for the wall of legality. We ask the President of the Association Salvatore Calò and the Vice President Caterina Trimarchi a few questions to tell the general public about the work of the Calapanama Association, which has been operating in Sicily since 2021 and which has stood out with its work, often attracting the attention of the international press .
Salvatore Calò President of the Calapanama Association
-How long has the CalaPanama painters association existed?
The CalaPanama association was born with statute in 2021, strongly supported by some painters. The first meetings, on Saturday mornings at Cala, date back to 2014. Over time, others have been added, some have abandoned. One of the pioneers who must be mentioned was Manlio Amico who unfortunately left us before seeing his dream come true in the association. His charisma made the artistic movement of plein air painting grow a lot, an idea that we all fully shared, being in tune with others too.
-How did you feel when you learned the news of the awarding of the prestigious Ignazio Buttitta Prize?
A great emotion, given the seriousness of the organizers and the importance of the very welcome prize. Of course we have created many projects: the sheets on the Divine Comedy, the ties of legality, the exhibition on the circus, the exhibition on Sicilian cinema, the permanent exhibition on scientific research at the Ingrassia hospital, the murals in Piazza Naso in Ballarò, the Wall of Legality at the Cape which has become a destination for tourist stops, and also the Mural of Ciccio Ingrassia and of the Patroness of Palermo Santa Rosalia which became a votive shrine at the behest of Don Nenè, a local inhabitant, who effectively became its custodian. I believe that if we had not been “an Association” we would not have been able to carry out these projects… The entire Association is gratified and the conclusion is only one: the group is very close-knit and it works!
– What are the plans for the future of Calapanama?
We are currently working on the Sanremo project. The painters created in paintings the 74 winning songs of the Festival from 1951 to 2024. We will exhibit them on the occasion of the 75th Festival at a special location, which I cannot reveal for the moment, but the location will be communicated to the press one month before the The Festival begins in January. the Festival will take place from 4 to 8 February 2025, and if we succeed, we expect a spectacular finale regarding the winning song. Another project in the pipeline is the creation of two canvases dedicated to Santa Rosalia which will be painted, in the wake of the canvases in which we CalaPanama painters represented the three canticles of the Divine Comedy. The work created by 10 painters will be presented to the city on the occasion of the 400th Festino of Santa Rosalia as a poster for a storyteller show that we are preparing. To complete the annual cycle we will create 22 murals on the life of Biagio Conte on the wall surrounding the Speranza e Carità mission. The project was authorized by the Superintendency of Cultural and Environmental Heritage and welcomed by the Municipality of Palermo, which granted us free patronage. Furthermore, it was paid attention to by the Ars and embraced by the sponsors who have already allowed the creation of the wall of legality.
Caterina Trimarchi vice president of the Calapanama Association
-What can you tell me about the success of the CalaPanama painters?
The group has existed for about ten years, but since 2021 we have been a legally recognized Association, which is committed to socio-cultural and environmental projects.
Our success is mainly due to teamwork and the respect that exists within the association’s board of directors which is composed as follows: Salvatore Calò President, by me Caterina Trimarchi Vice President and press officer, Aurelio Cartaino, secretary, Mariella Ramondo, public relations, Domenico Guzzetta treasurer. Often the tasks of one overlap with those of the other, but what counts is the result… and the success of many projects and the numerous requests for registration of new members are proof of this. The primary objective of our Association is to create art and get together: it’s nice to share your same passion with other people! The approval of the Wall of Legality project by the Superintendence of Cultural Heritage of Palermo was a very strong input. The creation of the Wall was a demanding and highly responsible job, implemented with the material obtained only with the help of some sponsors. The work received much acclaim from the public and critics and has become a destination for legal tourism.
Ours is an uphill journey in which, while always with that playful spirit that distinguishes us, we propose increasingly important projects of broad social interest.
-How did you feel when you learned the news of the awarding of the Ignazio Buttitta Prize to the painters of Calapanama?
Knowing that we will be awarded this prestigious prize has made us proud, not only for our artistic skills, but for the commitment, stubbornness and self-sacrifice in the realization of projects that often represent a sort of bet with ourselves… almost a challenge!!! In the artistic world we could define ourselves as “nonconformists”, in the sense that we do not create our works exclusively for personal success or to aspire to fashionable competition prizes or awards invented ad hoc for economic purposes, but mainly to shine the spotlight on our Association and to convey a fundamental message “Unity is strength” which is the essence of the associative spirit that distinguishes us and… judging by this Award, we succeeded!
-What are your plans for the future?
In our immediate future we have the creation of a great work dedicated to Biagio Conte. The project was conceived to honor a special man who dedicated his life to the “last”. The long Mural will be a succession of images that will trace the life path of the missionary and will contribute with its colors to that process of urban redevelopment and regeneration that is being implemented in the neighborhoods of Palermo. Furthermore, we are working on an exciting group exhibition, unique in its kind, that will trace the history of Italian music and customs with the pictorial representation of all the songs that have had the honor of the great stage at the Ariston in Sanremo. Another project for the future is certainly that of making one of the most important group exhibitions of CalaPanama, the one on Sicilian Cinema, travel to other destinations. It is about over forty works that reproduce the most emblematic scenes of the films that have made the history of Cinema from the post-war period to the present day … from the films of Pietro Germi, Francesco Rosi and Luchino Visconti to those of Giuseppe Tornatore, Ficarra and Picone, Roberto Andò. The Group exhibition represents the flagship of our artistic work because the originality of the theme has aroused great interest and is requested from many parties. There is a good chance of exhibiting the group exhibition during a very important event whose identity I prefer not to reveal at the moment …
Here are the other winners of the 2024 Buttitta Prize.
Over 500 poets and writers, from Italy and abroad, who participated in the literary competition.
Literary awards – poetry section:
1st “Calanu ad unu ad unu ni la sira” by Mimmo Galletto; 2nd “Lu chiantu di la capinera” by Italo Minnella; 3rd ex aequo: “Zittiti ca si fimmina” by Margherita Neri; “There’s time for everything” by Cinzia Pitangaro. Highlighted: “Canta pueta” by Lia Gaetano and “Malandrina Serenade” by Grazia Doctor
Cuntu section:
1st “Russian Capiddi (lu vo’dici curnutu a lu sceccu) by Rosa Di Martino; 2nd ex aequo: “U cappeddru du parrinu” by Rosanna Vicari; “A campaign du zi Pe’” by Emilio Milioti; 3rd “Norinu” by Clementina Rotolo. Highlights: “Felicia Impastato meets Tiresias in Hades” by Francesco Billeci; “Ninuzzu” by
Mario Rizzo.
Narrative Section:
1st ex aequo: “Sull’aia” by Giuseppe Tamburello; “Sissi’s amazement” by Salvatore Miseria; 2nd “While I was walking….a sudden tenderness” by Salvatore Leto; 3rd “reading legends” by Maria Concetta Armetta and Giuseppe Vultaggio.
Historical Non-Fiction Section: 1st “Sicily, places and writing” by Federico Guastella; 2nd “Far from the procette of the world” by Francesca Patti; 3rd ex aequo: “Favara between dialect and history” by Antonio Arnone and Giovanni Marchica; “From Sicily to El Alamein” by Carlo Palermo.
Theatrical texts section: 1st “Pi tuttu c’è tempu” by Annarita Spinello.
Section Collection Poetry in Italian: 1st “Poetic Trilogy” by Vito Giuliana; 2nd “My Thoughts” by Roberto Nocera; 3rd “Nuances” by Margherita Biondo.
Sicilian Poetry Collection Section: 1st “Salt, sugar and feli” by Cinzia Pitingaro; 2nd “Paroli a lu ventu” by Vito Giuliana; 3rd ex aequo: “Fidi ti salva no lignu di varca” by Giovanni Grasso; “Sarsa” by Mimma Raspanti.
Giuseppe Maurizio Piscopo
