Eight local artists created unique works installed along eight routes leading to the discovery of the small village.
April 28th, 2023, by editors
Nature becomes art; art becomes nature. The file rouge binds all the paths enclosed in the Praiano NaturArte project. Eight trails allow people to tour and discover the village of Praiano on foot.
A project born in 2016 that involved eight important artists from the Amalfi Coast who created creative urban trekking where step by step, the knowledge of the territory as we see it today unveils its memory. Themed paths tell through icons and figurative allegories the traditions and history of the village.
The beauties of local culture
Each walk has been interpreted by the inspiration and talent of these artists, who have created as many as 150 ceramic and stone sculptures: an ensemble of works that have transformed the small town into an open-air museum. The alleys of Praiano thus become a platform where scenic beauty dialogues with local culture.
From the silence of the mountains to the events of Odysseus
The first itinerary brings together the stone sculptures of the late Amalfi artist Francesco Mangieri, known as Mao. It goes from Via Croce to the Convent of Santa Maria a Castro. It is a walk from the village up to the mountain, where one slowly leaves the mundane behind to embrace the silence of nature.
On the other hand, the second reveals Odysseus’ journey thanks to ceramic tiles created by Sandro Mautone set up from Via degli Ulivi to Via Costantinopoli. The path is strongly inspired by the view of these places that opens onto Li Galli, the natural paradise in the Gulf of Salerno just in front of the Amalfi Coast.
Legend has it that the islands were inhabited by enchanting sirens, who bewitched sailors, leading them to shipwreck against the rocks, a chant that Ulysses and the Argonauts managed to escape. Mautone’s iconographies narrate these mythological events.
From the janare to the life of fishermen
The third itinerary along Croce Street exhibits a series of colorful abstract masks by Patrizia Marchi. The legend of the Janare, the witch-women who rested at the Marina di Praia, is the theme developed for the fourth walk by Enzo Caruso. Caruso depicts these female figures in sometimes grotesque and sometimes somber ways.
From the mysterious shadows of these women, we move to the blue of the sea and the hues of the art of fishing with the visual storytelling created by Lucio Liguori that unfolds along Rezzola Street and Masa Street.
From sacred symbols to the poetics of the inhabitants
Constantinople Street is again the catwalk where the floating stones and hidden words of Fernando Vassallo parade. A pleasant walk that leads to the church of the same name. The penultimate itinerary features the works of Fausto Lubelli, who pays homage to sacred symbols by revisiting the idea of the votive aedicule.
“On the Road of Memory” is the title of the eighth itinerary that exhibits the works of Paolo Sandulli. Seven terracotta panels leading from the highway to the beach bring to life the story of local characters, the souls of Praiano when it was still a place of fishermen. The works are all accompanied by poems written by the artist, which translate into words, the poetics of his imagery.