Alessandro Piangiamore
CuntĂ ra cĂąnti
Curated by Claudio Libero Pisano
Complesso del San Giovanni, Catanzaro
Opening: December 19, 2025
Until February 22, 2026
The Municipality of Catanzaro presents, in the prestigious halls of the Complesso del San Giovanni, an exhibition project inspired by the themes found in Fiabe e novelle calabresi by Letterio di Francia, first published in 1929 and recently reissued by Donzelli Editore. The text offers an extraordinary opportunity to reconsider the tradition of storytelling and fairy tales which, despite regional differences, has connected the various Italian regions with the rest of Europe, as well as with Mediterranean and Middle Eastern traditions.
This reflection opens onto a contemporary notion of story and narration, exploring how the fairy tale belongs to the imaginary of an “other” world, thus offering a new perspective through which imagination can be seen and understood as a redefinition of the contours of reality.
With these premises, the exhibition features artists who present works directly inspired by Di Francia’s text, alongside others whose practices reflect on the contemporary relevance of storytelling and on the meaning of the fairy tale, of dreams, and of desire.
The exhibition includes contributions by Dias&Riedweg, Paola Gandolfi, Gioacchino Pontrelli, Alessandro Piangiamore, Donatella Spaziani, Francesco Vaccaro, Valentina Vannicola, and Andrea Winkler & Stefan Panhans. The performances will feature Teodora Grano, Gaetano Palermo, and Michele Petrosino, and will be accompanied by a presentation of the book “Stato di incanto” by Teresa Macrì.