Last 3 April, the Italian National Commission of UNESCO communicated the proposal for the inclusion of the ”Parazioni and traditional light displays of Southern Italy” in the Representative List of UNESCO’s Intangible Cultural Heritage.
The artistic tradition is certainly one of the most precious jewels of our country. Italic genius, creativity, manual ability and inventiveness have characterized the history of Italy and have made every territory of our nation a museum and a living exhibition. In this panorama are inserted the “Parazioni” and the traditional lights, which are large “ephemeral” decorative devices made of wood, which feature dense decorations inspired by Baroque architecture. These spectacular wooden inlays are enhanced and embellished by the use of small and very small multicolored lights.
The more mature forms and types of decorations are handed down from generation to generation by the Paratori and originate from the art sketches of the great masters of the Italian Renaissance and Baroque, with whom they share the aim of “arousing wonder”.
The walls have some standard structural elements which, when put together, create scaffolding that can reach up to 40 meters in height, supported exclusively by small-caliber iron wire rods. The most characterizing elements of the walls are different and very refined: arches, rose windows, sound boxes, up to – especially in Puglia – entire luminous galleries and espaliers that manage to cover entire squares recreating fantastic, surreal and wonderful scenarios.
Light has a symbolic value (of rebirth) and a crucial aesthetic function in transmitting the sense of wonder, which is one of the purposes of traditional illuminations, drawing its origins from the objective of baroque art of “awakening wonder”.
The “Illuminations” are a peculiarity of the typical craftsmanship of southern Italy and, as a pan-southern phenomenon, the process for nomination as a UNESCO intangible cultural heritage has begun.
The candidacy starts from the six southern regions in which this wooden decoration architecture was born and developed. We have highlighted the artistic value, the ability to combine the tradition of woodworking and assembly with the most modern electronic technology and the success that the “Illuminations” have achieved in the world, also becoming testimonials for major brands of style, fashion and show.
Molise, Campania, Puglia, Basilicata, Calabria and Sicily have come together through sector operators, enthusiasts and technicians to start the application process. Confartigianato Luminaristi Puglia worked to bring together the community of luminarists and promote the idea of candidacy. The preliminary investigation for the candidacy proposal was handled by the company Studio Planning Idea with Dr. Marco Mazzeo.
The staff was very large and worked with passion and great professionalism to reach this ambitious first goal, therefore deep thanks must certainly be addressed to Paolo Laku (videomaker) for the photos and video editing. We also thank Melissa Nutricato (translator), Donato De Fabrizio (photographer) Dr. Mario Pendinelli (Mayor and Director Pro Tempore of the Museo delle Luminarie di Puglia in Scorrano (Lecce), Dr. Giovanni Giangreco (Art Historian), Gennaro Criscuolo ( Luminarist of Campania), Cesareo De Cagna (Luminarist of Puglia), Franco Pugliese (Luminarist of Calabria), Pasquale Lo Faro (Luminarist of Sicily).
The first result has arrived and with a note dated 3 April the Italian National UNESCO Commission communicated the candidacy of the “Illuminations” to the Italian Ministry of Culture by transmitting the file Parazioni and traditional light displays of Southern Italy for the candidacy as UNESCO intangible cultural heritage.
We are confident that this goal will also be achieved with everyone’s contribution, starting from the sensitivity that public and private institutions can demonstrate.
