Francesco Toninelli
Ali Hierax
a cura di Ehab Halabi Abo Kher
Francesco Toninelli, Perseo, 2025. Performance. Ph Francesca Lenzi
"The legend of the Locrians following a sparrowhawk to the top of the cliff makes air a founding element of the village. I therefore imagined wings capable of shaping it and making it resonate, created from materials connected to both past and present agricultural labor: rare broom-fiber textiles engage in dialogue with plastics that possess an archaic appearance."
The project originates from the founding myth of Gerace and from the figure of the sparrowhawk, ῐ̔έρᾱξ (hierax), a totemic guide leading toward the cliff. This mythical matrix merges with the verticality of the village, taking shape in a series of wearable wing-like sculptures made of bamboo and heterogeneous materials gathered on site — agricultural tarps, domestic fabrics, and other reclaimed elements — establishing a direct relationship with the memory of the place.
The work unfolds across a dual dimension: on the one hand, as a sculptural presence accessible to the public throughout the entire duration of the edition; on the other, as a performative device activated through a three-act program developed over the course of the summer. The journey begins with the itinerant action of Francesco Toninelli, dedicated to the acoustic exploration of the landscape during the opening; it continues with the timbral investigation of Ingar Zach, who reinterprets the objects through the language of contemporary percussion; and culminates in the collective restitution guided by Enrico Malatesta, where a collective workshop transforms the participants into a single performative sonic organism.
The work thus vibrates between use and contemplation, maintaining a constant balance between local memory and the contemporary soundscape.
Thanks to: the Municipality of Gerace, Rosetta Bolognino, Michał Biel, Giuseppe Garreffa, Simone Lacopo, Tina Macrì, Enrico Malatesta, Ingar Zach.
Francesco Toninelli (Florence, Italy, 1999) trained as a musician and sound engineer at Rhythmic Music Conservatory (RMC) in Copenaghen and at Luigi Cherubini Conservatory of Music in Florence. His sound and sculptural works stem from an interest in rural territories and the pre-industrial past, engaging with elemental forces, folkloric and mythological narratives, as well as domestic and autobiographical dimensions. In 2023, he took part in the group exhibition Mezz’aria. La strana apertura della ricerca sonora, curated by NUB Project Space & Gabriele Tosi, marking the entry of his practice—previously limited to live performance—into a more explicitly exhibition-based context.
Ehab Halabi Abo Kher is an Israeli visual artist based in Italy. A finalist of the National Arts Prize in 2008, he has taken part in numerous events and festivals, including the 54th Venice Biennale, Festa del Cinema di Roma, Corpo Elettronico, Videoart Yearbook, The Scientist Festival, and Altrove Street Art Festival.
His practice revolves around found footage and performance, exploring the mechanisms of communication through pre-existing materials. For Una Boccata d’Arte in Calabria, he curated the projects by Mohsen Baghernejad Moghanjoogh in Santa Severina (2023), Lulù Nuti in Motta Filocastro (2024), and Anna Ill in Simeri Crichi (2025).
Perched on a sandstone spur overlooking the Costa dei Gelsomini, Gerace preserves the charm of its medieval past. Its stone streets and noble palaces safeguard a millennia-old heritage, suspended between Byzantine and Norman cultures. Its origins are intertwined with the history of Locri Epizefiri, an ancient Magna Graecia colony founded on the Ionian coast by Greek settlers from Locris. According to legend, it was the inhabitants of Locri, fleeing Saracen incursions, who moved inland guided by a hawk—hièrax in Greek—from which the town’s name is believed to derive. Its commanding position made it, over the centuries, a strategic stronghold in southern Calabria, thanks to its control over coastal routes and its natural fortification. Known as the “town of a hundred churches,” Gerace is dominated by its majestic Cathedral, the spiritual center of the area.