Caterina Morigi
Sibillina
curated by
Matilde Galletti
San Ginesio (MC), Marche
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San Ginesio has a notable historic and artistic heritage, with examples ranging from the 9th century to the early 20th century. However today, most of these works are not visible to the public due to the inaccessibility of nearly all the village’s cultural venues following the 2016 earthquake.
The few pictorial and sculptural relief works that can still be seen – on the building façades now marked by fissures and the enormous timber props that hold them together – were Caterina Morigi’s starting point. Sibillina (Sybilline) is a sort of altarpiece whose shape reflects the ornate Flamboyant Gothic style of the façade of San Ginesio’s main church, Collegiata di Santa Maria Assunta, the only example of this style in the Marches region.
Compared to her usual technique, the artist retains her interest in the possibility of handling materials – as demonstrated by her decision to work with a historic local company in order to create an engraved surface using marble gravel – but she allows figurative elements to emerge, treated in an almost pop style.
Symbols taken from canvases and sculptural reliefs discovered in the village during the research phase have been freely positioned in the various panels comprising the work, forming a decorative-evocative pattern. The timber supporting structure also recalls the shoring props that envelop most of the village’s buildings.
In this way, the artist places a detail at the centre of her narrative, by means of which she describes marginal and hidden aspects, things that are no longer visible but are still present, while also attempting to evoke everything that, at the present time, is shut away, but remains part of collective heritage.ㅤ

Artwork:
01.
Caterina Morigi, Sibillina, 2024. Carved and engraved grit, wood, 220 x 220 x 40 cm.
Chiostro di Sant'Agostino, Via Giacomo Matteotti 18, San Ginesio


Four small interventions, consisting of symbols similar to those of the main work, are scattered throughout the village: we invite you to seek them out in the most hidden corners of San Ginesio.

Sometimes, it is necessary to rework the details to create a new narrative. This makes us aware of which parts of the past still communicate with us, through our present-day eyes. I gathered visual suggestions from San Ginesio, formulating an unexpected story to test the elements in a treasure hunt of signs.

Caterina Morigi (Ravenna, Italy, 1991) studied Visual Arts at the IUAV University of Venice and Plastic Arts at Paris 8–Saint Denis. Her practice focuses on the vital transformations of matter; through installations, sculptures, and images, she identifies and investigates connections between the spheres of the human and the natural, triggering karstic flows between art history, architecture, and technology. Her research often leads to collaborations with the scientific community and integrates other disciplines, as in Sea Bones, winner of the XII edition of the Italian Council. For this project, she collaborated with professors of Mathematics and Materials Chemistry at the Cooper Union University in New York, in partnership with the Quadriennale di Roma and the Fotodok Foundation of Utrecht. She teaches at the Academy of Fine Arts in Florence and participates in artistic residencies including those at the Bilbao Arte Foundation and Alchimie Culturali of the Bevilacqua La Masa Foundation and Confindustria Veneto. Her work has been exhibited in both Italian and international institutions such as Palazzo Reale, Milan (IT, 2023); Art Rotterdam (NL, 2023); Video Sound Art Festival, Milan (IT, 2022); Fotografia Europea, Reggio Emilia (IT, 2022); Museo Nazionale della Montagna, Turin (IT, 2021); Villa Della Regina, Turin (IT, 2019); Archivio Casa Morra, Naples (IT, 2019); MAMbo, Bologna (IT, 2018); MAR, Ravenna (IT, 2015).

In my research I turn attention to the matter, swarming of life, casting it as a territory of conjunction and exchange. To deal with the substance of things I use a close, timeless gaze. The work becomes a shifting and changing device that is used to enact reversals between subject and frame, center and margin, and initiate a multitude of different and subjective fluid images.

San Ginesio (MC)
Marche

San Ginesio is a medieval village known as the “Balcony of the Sibillini” for the splendid view that it offers, stretching from Monte Conero to Gran Sasso.
The ancient castle, castrum esculanum, was named after Saint Ginesio, a Roman mime and musician in the 3rd century A.D. who was martyred under the Emperor Diocletian. Today, he is the patron saint of actors and theatre folk, which is why the town is also known as Borgo degli Attori, Actors Village.
Since 2020, thanks to the Ginesio Fest – Festival delle arti teatrali (Festival of theatrical arts) and the Premio San Ginesio all’Arte dell’Attore (San Ginesio Prize for the Art of Acting) – the village has become a point of reference in the geography of Italian festivals.
There are numerous places of historical and artistic relevance, despite the damage caused by the 2016 earthquake: the 14th-century castle walls that encircle the village and run for over 4 km; the main square, with the Collegiate Church, the only architectural masterpiece in the Marche region in Romanesque and Gothic style; and the Hospital of St. Paul, also known as the “pilgrims' hospital.”
San Ginesio, in addition to being amongst “Borghi più Belli d’Italia” (Most Beautiful Villages in Italy) has prestigious tourist and environmental quality labels such as the “Bandiera Arancione del Touring Club Italiano” (Touring Club Italiano Orange Flag) and hosts numerous events throughout the year, including historical re-enactments such as the “Battle of the Fornarina” and the “Palio di San Ginesio,” the banner that each year is awarded to the district winning the knightly tournament.

Thanks to: Mayor Giuliano Ciabocco Isabella Parrucci, press office of the municipality of San Ginesio, Elisa Straffi, President of the Pro Loco di San Ginesio, and Teresa Lambertucci, b&b Bella Vista.