THE PILGRIM OF NOW – LANDART INSTALLATION IN ABBADIA ISOLA
Vitalità Cultural Association, Comune di Monteriggioniin collaboration with Velathri Art Gallery and Futura Osteria Restaurant present:
THE PILGRIM OF NOW
DEVA MANFREDO | LANDART INSTALLATION
JUNE – OCTOBER 2018
Abbadia Isola & Futura Osteria Restaurant
THE PILGRIM OF NOW ART EXHIBITION
The Pilgrim of Now, an exhibition in Abbadia Isola of the work of German artist Deva Manfredo in collaboration with the Comune di Monteriggioni, Futura Osteria Restaurant, Vitalità Cultural Association and Velathri Art Gallery of San Gimignano, is an artistic project dedicated to the pilgrimage.
A pilgrimage is journey made towards a spiritual place undertaken in devotion, as a spiritual search, or for penance. The etymological definition indicates a particular type of travel, a trip with an aim, usually along a pre-established route. The time dedicated to the pilgrimage becomes a time that separates the pilgrim from the continuity of the daily round with its familiar places, relationships and work, to connect to the sacred. The term derives from the Latin word peregrinus, from per + ager (fields), where it meant the one who does not live in the city, the one who is the foreigner, or someone forced to conditions of reduced civilization.
It has nowadays come to imply a choice. Those who choose to go on a pilgrimage are not foreigners, but become foreigners and in this condition they assume labours and risks, interior and material, with a view to the spiritual advantages which may be gained – to meet the sacred in a distant place, to offer the risks and sacrifices materially endured in exchange for a metaphysical salvation or for forgiveness or even in the hope of material advantage, thanks to the adventures and opportunities that will be encountered along the way.
The Pilgrim of Now is an exhibition itinery dedicated to pilgrims of all nationalities and religious persuasions, a cross-cultural link to the sacred.
DEVA MANFREDO (MANFRED FLUCKE) | LANDART
Manfred Flucke, alias Deva Manfredo, german-born artist, Magister Artium at the University of Hamburg, living since 1981 in Tuscany. Here he created the Sculpture Park DREAMWOODS – SELVA DI SOGNO, with around 200 sculptures and installations in a 10 hectare wood 25 km from Siena, on the border between the Municipalities of Casole d’Elsa, Chiusdino and Radicondoli. His technique is always the same: to collect stones of all kinds rom fields, landfills, rivers and beaches and to compose without modifying, breaking or assembling them in small, medium or large works. As the artist himself says “Sometimes I feel like an announcer of Nature’s beauty and strength, helping it to emerge”
Today, with the widening separation of man from nature, this is an increasingly important theme. Nature must be protected and rediscovered in these times of escalating destruction of the environment. In recent years, Manfredo more and more is concentrating on works created with stones coloured by the processes of nature. In his long career as an artist he has set up many exhibitions and created site-specific installations in Tuscany, Italy and Germany.
SAMUELE BRAVI | CHEF
Samuele Bravi is the chef of Futura Osteria in Abbadia Isola, a small villageclose to Monteriggioni. Chance lead him to his first ‘kitchen’, but after several steps including experience at the Locanda Solarola with Roy Caceres, he was committed. He moved to Abbadia Isola, choosing to start where had been before the restaurant La leggenda dei Frati. With the strategic support of another great professional, Nicola Saporito, he Embarked on the new adventure of the Futura Osteria, a recreation of the generous Tuscan tavern: simple and tasty ingredients, carefully chosen and treated with the inspiration and rigour of a personal and modern cuisine.
LOCATION:
ABBADIA ISOLA
Abbadia a Isola, an old hamlet close to Monteriggioni, is one of the most evocative villages in Tuscany. The Benedictine monastery founded at the beginning of 1000 CE and around which the village developed, was built on a patch of land emerging from the Padule del Cannetto, at that time a mix of lake and marsh, on the edge of the Via Francigena, a very busy medieval pilgrimage and trade route.
Rich in history and culture, Abbadia Isola’s vocation has always been hospitality, and even today this charming place has not strayed from its calling. With Futura Osteria, the village discovers the contemporary flavours of traditional Tuscan cuisine in an environment where the ancient architecture recalls the stillness of water and invites to a serene conviviality.
EXHIBITION ORGANISERS & PARTNERS: