Di Maggio’s voice in Ivrea for the inauguration of the giants of Mitoraj

IVREA. Ivrea not only the Italian book capital, but also the capital short. At least in art, after the inauguration, yesterday, Thursday 21, of the Mitoraj exhibition in Ivrea. Myth and literature, which he brought to piazza Ottinetti, where two monumental works in bronze by the famous Franco-Polish artist will remain until November 27th.

These are Ikaria grande (h 6.45, l 2.43, p 3 meters, 2001) and Hermanos (h 2.93, l 3.26, p 2.95 meters, 2002), which led Ivrea to compete directly with Paris where, at the moment, they are exhibited three works by Mitoraj. Among other things, there are two examples, in the world, of Ikaria grande, one, currently, in the Défense, financial district of the French capital, and the other in our city.

The exhibition is a new milestone among the many achieved in this last year by the councilor for Culture, Costanza Casali, who managed to put at the service of Ivrea not only her professional skills as a brilliant lawyer, but also those of an art connoisseur and organizer of cultural events, as well as solid personal credibility. Luca Pizzi, already among the assistants to the Maestro and still working at the Atelier.

Pizzi, in Ivrea, last Tuesday, for the installation of the works in the square, had gladly recounted the meeting with Casali, who presented himself directly in the atelier, in Pietrasanta, in March: “He told us to admire the master’s works a lot and he proposed us an exhibition in Ivrea. We told her that we would think about it and for two months, every week, we received a call from her to find out about our decision. In May we were in Ivrea for an inspection: she showed us the city and the places of Olivetti’s history, she read us an interesting letter from Mitoraj to Giorgio Soavi, about a work done by the master for Olivetti and, last but not least, she took us to the Pasticceria Balla, to taste the famous Torta ‘900, telling us about the conquest of the title of Italian book capital. Although accustomed to the requests of the great world capitals or places of particular suggestion, from the Valley of the Temples to Pompeii, we were pleasantly overwhelmed by her conscious and intelligent enthusiasm and we said to ourselves: “why not?”. And now here we are with Hermanos, Brothers, a reminder of the sense of Community, and Ikaria grande, of man’s desire to fly ».

At the inaugural ceremony, in addition to Maurizio Di Maggio, the historic voice of Radio Monte Carlo, who read Mitoraj’s letter to Soavi, the art critic Luca Beatrice also intervened who, in one of his articles, had defined the great world protagonist of the art of the twentieth century, «master of the ambiguous and indecipherable sign, managed to win the bet that history is not a place of conflict but an immense wealth of images and suggestions». The exhibition, however, has already achieved its goal: «While we were installing the statues – Pizzi still recalled – two young boys approached us and told us, admiringly, that nothing like it had ever been seen in Ivrea. The day the lawyer Casali rang the atelier bell was his birthday and he told us he wanted to give himself a gift with the exhibition. In reality, he gave the gift to the whole city of Ivrea which, hopefully, recognizes the effort made and the result achieved ». –