The image of the boxer Mario Altana demolishing an old silo with one punch, a tribute to his figure in one of the 48 works by the 24 Sardinian artists , teachers and students of the Academy of Fine Arts “M. Sironi” of Sassari who have displayed all their creativity in the Roman port of Turris Libisonis Portus Sardiniae, the ancient port of the city of Porto Torres.
With the exhibition entitled “Every ship needs a port ”, the archaeological site discovered in the early 2000s reopens to the public, thanks to the investigations of the Superintendence for Archaeological Heritage that brought to light various Roman structures: port constructions, buildings with mosaic floors, canalization systems, wells and remains of the road network that connected the port with the center and the rural villas. Through the 48 works created with different techniques, from painting to sculpture , the theme of the port is investigated not only as a physical place but also as a place of the mind. This morning the ribbon was cut with the mayor Massimo Mulas, the councilor for culture Maria Bastiana Cocco, the prefect of Sassari, Maria Grazia La Fauci, the mayor of Stintino, Rita Vallebella and the civil, military and religious authorities of the territory. The project “Every ship needs a port”, promoted by the Municipality, was born thanks to the collaboration with the Municipal Tourist Office and the Historical Memory that manages it. The title of the exhibition, curated by the art historian and head of the Historical Memory Museums sector Baingio Cuccu, refers to the ship understood as a man and the port as the world in which one lives one's life, one's emotions and experiences, dreams and hopes. The works, inspired by the quote by Don Luigi Giussani "Research is absurd if it does not imply the existence of a port", have explored the concept of the port not only as a physical place but also as an ideal space in which life stories such as departures, arrivals, encounters, tragedies and salvations materialize. An investigation impressed on the sculptures and paintings, most of which were made specifically for the exhibition with various techniques, from tempera drawings to sculptures, through installations and matrices for woodcuts. All recall the concept of the port as it appears in the collective imagination: poetic, melancholic, nostalgic, loved by artists and writers of all ages, a point of arrival and departure towards the future. Finally, as an environment that embodies refuge, safety and shelter from the storms of life.
"A respectful mix where memory becomes present in the dialogue with the gaze of contemporary man and the product of the artistic process", said Baingio Cuccu "in this specific case the port, by its nature, embodies the idea of movement, of meeting and of physical and mental travel, and on this concept the 24 selected artists have created works that investigate the relationship between place and what it inspires".
For Councilor Cocco, "while waiting for the works to enhance the remains of the port of Turris Libisonis to be completed and allow the area to be regularly visited by the public, this new installation now represents on the one hand a precious opportunity to promote an archaeological area with enormous informative potential for the ancient history of our city, on the other a moment of meeting, inspiration and exchange between archaeology and contemporary art".
The artists are: Leonardo Boscani, Silvia Cara, Enzo Carastro, Giovanni Dettori, Angelo De Santis, Davide Fadda, Alessandra Fiori, Gavino Ganau, Taras Halaburda, Davide Manca, Antonello Marchesi, Mara Masala, Max Mazzoli, Sergio Miali, Gianni Nieddu, Giovanni Sanna, Federico Satta, Tina Sgrò, Oscar Solinas, Federico Soro, Carlotta Tola, Luca Zedda, Vincenzo Pattusi and Marco Pili.