ALTAMURA: THE SPIRAL OF LIFE  (4.03.2023- 4.04.2023)

A large, spiral-shaped installation commemorating all the victims of the mafia in Apulia, as well as the assassinations in Capaci and Via D’Amelio where judges Falcone and Borsellino and their escorts all lost their lives, is the latest work by the Venice-born artist Gianfranco Meggiato inaugurated on the anniversary of the murder of Domi Martimucci, who was barbarously killed by a bomb attack on the night between 4 and 5 March 2015.

“La Spirale della vita” (The Spiral of Life) comprises 2000 military sacks as the basic material and has a diameter of 10 metres. It is the first large-scale temporary installation set up in Apulia in memory of the victims of the mafia. “It is only through free thought and acquiring awareness, not weapons,” artist Gianfranco Meggiato maintains, “that Man will find salvation from himself. Humanity does not need superstructures but must apply the humility of an apprentice and move directly through personal, individual labyrinths to arrive at knowledge.” 

This project has a highly symbolic value that starts from the shape of the spiral depicting the vital flow of life: that tortuous path that everyone begins at birth, sometimes tormented by trials and hardships, leading to contemplation and awareness of truth and justice. Values represented by this imposing sculpture – 4 metres high – placed as the point of arrival at the heart of the work. A full-immersion, multi-sensory experience that becomes even more intense for visitors when struck by the odour given off by the jute sacks.