Luci D’Artista Salerno 2016: the complete guide

Saturday November 5th, the 2016 Edition of the “Luci D’Artista” exhibition opened in Salerno: the show comprises of light art exhibits and displays along the streets and squares of the city and will run through to January 22, 2017. Every night during the Christmas holidays, the show will light up the city of Salerno, gathering crowds of tourists from all over the world. The “Luci D’Artista” light art show began in Turin in 1998 and was subsequently taken up by the city of Salerno, and the two cities have been exchanging exhibits every year, in a rewarding artistic partnership.

This year, in addition to the light displays adorning the city, a 50 meters high panoramic ferris wheel was inaugurated in the Sottopiazza Concordia and is open to the public daily from 10 am to midnight. During the month of December, a number of other attractions will enrich the offering for tourists and residents alike: the majestic Christmas tree set up in Piazza Portanova and the Santa sled in Piazza Gloriosi, while in Largo Abate Conforti the Salerno 3D project offers a videomapping rendition of the whole city. This year, an official app is available for both iOs and Android, together with the “Luci D’Artista” Card, available at 5€ and offering a number of discounts and exclusive deals.

The light installations are highly scenographic works of art and represent an ideal opportunity to discover the city of Salerno and its beauties, from museums to monuments, from eateries to the charming artisanal shops in the city centre.

History

The “Luci D’Artista” art show first opened in Turin, in 1998. Twelve prominent Italian artists (Vasco Are, Francesco Casorati, Enrico De Paris, Richi Ferrero, Carmelo Giammello, Emanuele Luzzati, Luigi Mainolfi, Mario Molinari, Luigi Nervo, Giulio Paolini, Luigi Stoisa, Francesco Tabusso) are invited to take part in the show, together with two up-and-coming talents, selected each year through a nationwide call for ideas. The event, which has proven a real success right from its first edition, dresses up with lights the Piedmont metropolis of Turin and attracts every year a great number of Italian and international visitors. The collection, beginning from 1998, has progressively been enriched with new works and, as of 2015, comprises of a large number of exhibits from many different artists.

In 2006, the city of Salerno started its own edition of the show and in 2009 the two cities were joined in an artistic fellowship and exchange of works of art: the exhibits presented in Turin the previous year were on display in Salerno, together with other original works especially commissioned for the occasion. Then, in 2010, the city of Turin welcomed some of the installations presented in Salerno the previous year, thus cementing the partnership and the mutual exchange of exhibits. That same year, the 25 meters high Christmas tree on display in piazza Portanova was declared the tallest artificial tree in Italy.

Since 2011, the Salerno edition of the light show – which is visited yearly by thousands of tourists from Italy and abroad – has welcomed the works of Nello Ferrigno, a renowned Italian artist. The light panels he designed, which (together with many of the other installations) were produced by a firm based in Turin, were then loaned to the Piedmont city.

Theme and itineraries

Even though each exhibit is very different from the others, they all share the same fil rouge which characterises the whole event and all installations are placed along the streets according to specific theme-based itineraries. Please find the complete map below:

This year the main theme is Arabian Nights, the entrancing collection of stories with a Middle Eastern flavours. All exhibits, in fact, pay homage to the atmospheres of the Near East. The installation in Piazza Flavio Gioia, for instance, recreates the settings in which the Arabian Nights tales are traditionally told. Corso Vittorio Emanuele is adorned with stretches of lights that are reminiscent of a full starry night, with planets and astronomical bodies on display. The classic Enchanted Garden in the Villa Comunale, which every year presents an array of characters and scenes from famous children’s tales, this year was enriched with new light installations dedicated to tales that had not been recreated before, such as Aladdin.

But a special mention for a new entry must be given to the installations on the Santa Teresa beach, which turn the Amalfi Coast into Antarctica, complete with friendly penguins (at night the display is absolutely breathtaking), or into a tropical beach framed by palms of light.
The four main theme-based itineraries that spread out into the city are the same as last year: Myth, Dream, Time and Christmas. Each of the itineraries, that can be easily followed on the “Luci D’Artista” app, presents a series of exhibits in line with the chosen theme. Here is a list of the full itineraries:

Myth

• La Regata  (The Regatta) – via Porto, via Ligea
• Mosaico (Mosaic) by Enrica Borghi – via Duomo, via dei Canalli, via Tasso, via Romualdo il Guarna, Largo Plebiscito
• Shangai – Piazza Sant’Agostino and Largo Dogana Regia
• Le Vele (Sails) – via Arcie, via Velia and via Fieravecchia

 

Dream

• Il Giardino Incantato (The Enchanted Garden) – Villa Comunale/Centro storico
• Angeli (Angels) – in front of the Cattedrale San Matteo
• Pianeti e Stelle Cadenti (Planets and Shooting Stars) – via Posidonia and via Trento
• Accendi il tuo Futuro (Light Up Your Future)– by the Cooperativa Sociale Fili d’Erba Villa Carrara
• Cyrcus  (Circus) di Luca Pannoli – via Diaz, via Quaranta, via Manzo

 

Time

• Il Giardino di Primavera (The Spring Garden) – Largo Campo
• Antartide (Antarctica) – Lungomare Trieste and Santa Teresa
• La Grande Foresta (The Great Forest) – Piazza Flavio Gioia
• I Colori dell’Autunno (Colors of Fall) – via Carmine and via dei Principati
• Alberi di Neve (Snow Trees) – Corso Garibaldi
• L’Aurora Boreale (Aurora Borealis) – Corso Vittorio Emanuele
• L’Orsa tra i Ghiacci (The Bear Amongst Ice) – Piazza Monsignor Grasso

 

Il Natale

• La Madonna col Bambino (Madonna and Child) Eduardo Giannattasio – largo Abate Conforti, Complesso Monumentale S.Sofia
• L’Albero (The Tree) – Piazza Sedile di Portanova
• I Colori del Natale (Colors of Christmas) – via Torrione, via Posidionia
• La Slitta di Babbo Natale (Santa’s Sled) – Piazza Giancamillo Gloriosi
• Le Renne del Nord (The Reindeers from the North) – Piazza Caduti di Brescia
• L’Albero di Sfere  (Tree of Spheres) – Piazza Vittorio Veneto
• La Natività (The Nativity) by Eduardo Giannattasio – Corso Giuseppe Garibaldi (Chiesa di San Pietro in Camerellis)
• L’Annunciazione (The Annunciation) by Eduardo Giannattasio – Piazza Vittorio Veneto (Chiesa del Sacro Cuore)

 

Events

For the whole duration of the show, many events will take place in the theatre halls of Salerno and all through the city. We have already mentioned the videomapping of Salerno (which provides the opportunity to explore the city from a different and highly technological point of view), available until January 8 at the Complesso Monumentale di Santa Sofia.

The Teatro Municipale Giuseppe Verdi will present some best and most well-known operas (amongst which the Tosca), together with more accessible shows, such as the Yiddish Cabaret. For a complete list of the events click here.

 

 

Photo credit: Massimo Pica