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My research proposes to analyse the dynamic nature of memory, identity and communication in the context of our social and political landscape. In this context, inanimate objects take on the role of protagonists, freeing themselves from their conventional functions. This metaphorical approach serves as a method of non-verbal communication that develops through visual stratigraphies characterised by humorous, absurd and poetic tones.
Andrea Martinucci (Rome, Italy, 1991) is a visual artist who splits his time between Milan and Rome. His artistic research spans a wide array of themes, approached through a multidisciplinary lens that weaves together elements of fiction and theory. While his main focus is on painting, his work also embraces writing and moving images. Martinucci's creations have been showcased in both public and private venues, including the Triennale di Milano; IUNO, Rome; MACRO, Rome; Palazzo Reale, Milan; Tang Contemporary Art, Hong Kong; Aldea - Center for Contemporary Art and Technology, Bergen; FuturDome, Milan; Palazzo delle Esposizioni, Rome; ZETA Contemporary Art Center, Tirana; Mattatoio, Rome; Museo d'Arte Contemporanea Villa Croce, Genoa; and Fondazione Pastificio Cerere, Rome. In 2020, he was a recipient of the Cantica21 award. Italian Contemporary Art Everywhere, where he presented Turbomondi (Melodia), a video installation that became part of the public collection at the Central Institute for Graphics, Rome. His involvement in several significant projects includes Tonight we are young - New Italian Art at Triennale di Milan (IT, 2022), Fenomeno Pasquarosa at La Fondazione - Fondazione Nicola Del Roscio, Rome (IT, 2021), Rereading the Archive at Fondazione ICA, Milan (IT, 2022), and MANIFesta - Initziative di II at MACRO, Rome (IT, 2021).
The mountain village of Letino is within the Matese Regional Park, at a height of 1,050 metres above sea level.
Still today, this historic settlement retains its ancient layout, with evocative, narrow alleys that occasionally open onto panoramic views overlooking the valley below. The Church of Saint John the Baptist and the Castle, built on neolithic ruins, are of historic and architectural interest, and likewise the “Santuario della Madonna del Castello”, a building set into the settlement’s walls built during the 17th century.
As early as the Neolithic epoch, Letino was a centre of civilisation as a result of its green valleys, beech forests, springs and surface water features, which include the river Lete, known as the “river of oblivion,” fed by many springs, and Lake Letino, a hydroelectric basin famous for its natural beauty and its stalactite and stalagmite formations. An emissary of this lake forms waterfalls in the steep, craggy Valle delle Ravi valley.
Traditional Letino dress can still be seen in local culture: women wear hand-embroidered white blouses and long, dark skirts, over which there is a colourful decorated apron; their hair is in a plait or covered with a scarf. Men wear black trousers, a white shirt and an embroidered jacket. These costumes are used for special occasions and local festivities, and still today they highlight the people’s cultural identity and their links with Letino’s historical roots.