Simone Carraro
Sagra della Lucertola
Gli abitanti della Pietra, si muovono svelti tra i cunicoli scavati nella roccia: sono donne e sono lucertole, sono uomini e ramarri.
Escono dalla tana invernale per accogliere a gran voce la bella stagione. Squame, sonagli, zampe battenti, in un frastuono carnevalesco ed esuberante.
Simone Carraro, Sagra della Lucertola, 2023, Pietracamela (TE), Abruzzo, Ph. Tea Primiterra
Simone Carraro (Treviso, 1995) lives and works in Venice. He obtained a diploma in painting at the Academy of Fine Arts, Venice, and was selected for the Bevilacqua la Masa artistic residency (VE, 2019). He has taken part in numerous exhibitions and urban operations. His most recent appearances include: Senti le rane che cantano, Museo della Civiltà Contadina, Bentivoglio (BO, 2022); Tales we Tell, Stellwerk Gallery, Kassel (DE); Paesaggi Forti, Le Gallerie, Piedicastello (TR); Circo Entomologico (live performance), Cinema Galleggiante (VE); Radica corta, albero brullo, Alma Zevi (VE, 2021); Whatever It Takes, A Plus A Gallery (VE, 2020); 36 Mountains Festival, Gallery Bačva, Zagreb (HR); Supermercato, Serra dei Giardini (VE, 2019).
Pietracamela is an ancient village of 350 inhabitants located at the foot of the Gran Sasso massif, at an altitude of 1,000 metres. The landscape around it is distinctive for its steep and rugged terrain clad with forests mainly of Aschiero beech. Perched on a slope and built almost entirely in stone, in ancient times it was named Pietra Cameria, perhaps because of the camel-hump shape of the rocky outcrop above the settlement.
The piazza in the old village is dominated by the looming rock known as 'La Preta' (the rock) and, amidst the narrow, winding streets and old houses, there is a unique panorama. A beautifully-crafted gafio, a traditional wooden balcony built using ancient Longobard techniques, can still be seen. There are many churches, such as the Church of the Patron Saint Leucio Vescovo di Pietracamela (Bishop of Pietracamela) and the Church of San Giovanni Battista dating back to 1432, with a clock powered by an enormous counterweight mechanism still visible today. On one of the rock walls, you can see the rock paintings by 20th-century artist Guido Montauti, born in Pietracamela. This mountain village and its surroundings offer some unique naturalistic experiences, including the Corno Grande di Pietracamela Reserve, the highest peak in the Apennines and location of the Calderone Glacier, one of the most southerly glaciers in Europe, and the Gran Sasso e Monti della Laga National Park, one of the largest in Italy with one of the richest biodiversities in Europe.