Nucré | Contemporary Art Festival

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The project, launched by Rita Urso and Arechi Invernizzi's initiative (Artopiagallery, Milan), with the patronage of the Municipality of Ceglie Messapica and the Apulia Region, will be taking place in two locations this year: the Castello Ducale - involving the Sala dei Sindaci and the Scuderie, reopened to the public for the first time in over forty years - will host the group exhibition "The Court Ballet," curated by Roberto Lacarbonara, while Trullo Rubina, in the Menzella district, will host the group exhibition "Light Gravity", project curated by Arechi Invernizzi [with texts by Francesca Di Giorgio], and dedicated to Rubina Ciraci.

"Nucré" is a compound word formed by the dialect terms "nu" + "cré" and represents a recurring vernacular formula, generally indicating "one day," alluding to hope, promise, and destiny. The term refers to one of the most famous poems by Pietro Gatti, a prominent local author and one of the most influential regional poets of the 20th century, to whom the civic library is dedicated.

Through a tribute to the renowned personality of Aurelia Sanseverino (1498-1562), the "useful lady and ancient mistress" of the feud of Ceglie, NUCRÉ opens the Castello Ducale's doors to the public to host the exhibition THE COURT BALLET, dedicated to the topic of dance and music. This unique "invitation to court" aims to evoke the customs of an enlightened and generous noblewoman who not only provided the city with social works, such as the hospital and the convent of San Giovanni Evangelista but also contributed to the architectural development of the manor and the historic center, allowing citizens to cross the thresholds of the Castle for musical performances and to view the artworks from the baronial collection.

The history of the noble palace, a place of culture and civic participation, now gathers suggestions and dialogues between contemporary art and some archaic and anthropological phenomena related to the cult of dance, closely intertwined with the exposition's locations. The artists featured in the exhibition, gathered in the Castle's stable, will be Dina Danish, Angelo Filomeno, Angelica Mesiti, Marzena Novak, Marta Spagnoli, and Luca Trevisani.

Will be, also, presented an original photographic work by Giulia Parlato dedicated to the "Capitello della Danza" housed in the Regional Archaeological Museum "Francesco Ribezzo" in Brindisi, directed by the architect Emilia Mannozzi.

An authentic medieval jewel – recently restored by the Artistic Pirro company under the high supervision of the ABAP Superintendence of the Brindisi and Lecce provinces – it is considered one of the most relevant and significant testimonies of the Norman presence in the Brindisi region (and to that same age dates back also the central nucleus of the Castle of Ceglie), especially for its unusual subject choice, depicting twelve male and female characters participating in a dance scene.

A further aspect of exploration in the festival will be the theme of "Pizzica Serpentata Cegliese," an ancient form of musical and vocal expression in the local tradition with a magical-ritual nature and used to cure people believed to be possessed by an animal symbol such as the snake. Elena Mazzi's work is dedicated to this form of illness and its traditional healing methods.

The Trullo Rubina in the Menzella district of Ceglie Messapica will be the venue for the collective exhibition "Leggere Gravità" (Light Gravity), a project dedicated to Rubina Ciraci and curated by Arechi Invernizzi.

The Trullo, with its unique architectural shape and history, serves as the inspiring motif for the exhibition's theme, which explores the concept of lightness in its intimate and paradoxical relationship with its opposite, gravity, interpreted as the physicality and compactness of matter.

The simplicity of the construction method makes these dwellings "light" and somewhat provisional. The limestone slabs, stepped fitted, without mortar or cement, challenge the force of gravity in their tension towards the sky and can be easily dismantled, as used to occur during the Bourbon period, when Spanish collectors, sent by the Kingdom of Naples, would come to collect taxes on properties.

At the same time, the heavy quadrangular base with thick walls assigns the Trullo a connotation not only of solidity and safety but also of resistance to the adversities of time and anchoring to the earth.

Each one of the exhibited works reflects the suggestion of the oxymoron from which the exhibition takes its title and navigates in a territory that is both suspended and middle ground, hanging in the balance, and yet drawing substance from that very territory as a counterweight. Lightness can overturn into its opposite.

The ephemeral world outlined by the shadows pinpointed by Maddalozzo, Pignatelli, and Uncini evokes a plastic composition. The thin and floating figurines of Melotti represent the sculptural expression of an immaterial sound rhythm shaped by the artist. Likewise, Tomašević's surreal architectures and Pizzolante's photographic prints open up an inexplicable and metaphysical universe where humans are infinitely small, and memory becomes tangible. The instability of color in Catelani's paintings erases the distinction between matter and image, while in Siedlecki's sculptures, we experience two temporalities: the organic one doomed to deteriorate and the mineral one that will remain unaltered. Finally, Štětinová's reinterpretation of a traditional Bohemian ex-voto shows a discrepancy between the subject's lightness, fluidity, and fragility and the stiff material, linden wood, it is made of.

The opening will be on July, 22nd at 7-9 pm  at Castello Ducale, and on July, 22nd at 9-11 pm at Trullo Rubina.

The visits at Trullo Rubina are on Mon-Fri, 6-8 pm, by appointment only at: +39 348 31 37994