Matera Underground

"Whichever way you come from, the city does not reveal in any way to the visitor the originality of its physiognomy, which waits to be captured only by the meditative gaze of the less hurried traveller, prepared to understand the reasons of nature and history by which were composed, as in human faces, the physiognomies of the city."

The project 'Matera Alberga_Welcoming Art' was created with the intention of bringing the people of Matera back to their roots: following the depopulation of 1952, the city experienced an identity crisis, caused by the forced abandonment of the ancient districts. The "shame of Italy", loved and hated at the same time, had to be forgotten, but today the situation has clearly changed: Matera's Sassi stone districts are internationally renowned and welcome tourists from all over the world.

The 'Invisible Pavilions' project takes its name from the refurbishment of seven underground cisterns dating back to the 15th century: thanks to an excavation, these were connected to the underground rooms of Palazzo Viceconte, creating a new place, chosen as a space for the programme exhibitions.

Each artist who contributed to the Matera 2019 programme first accepted the invitation to become wholly immersed in the history, landscape and culture of this place, to follow its rhythm to the point of becoming one with the water and rock. Each emerged from the experience with their own narrative ready to be expressed through text, imagery or music.

Inside a hypogeum everything is amplified, not only the sounds, but even the images and messages conveyed are more vivid. Precisely for this reason 'MaTerre VR Experience' has found its ideal location in the rock church of Santa Maria de Armenis. The exhibition presented the first international example of cinepoetry: five pairs of artists from the Euro Mediterranean area, each formed by a filmmaker and a poet, met in Matera with the aim of illustrating the light and the landscape of this land. The result was a collective film in five episodes, presented through an immersive exhibition path where, thanks to 360° virtual reality, the viewer was able to literally "enter" into the work.

"Digging" traditionally refers to the idea of ​​research, of roots, of creating a void: in Matera, however, this is a term that more evokes the need for new spaces to make room for new activities, ideas, people. The cycle of meetings 'Future digs' was dedicated to the city of tomorrow, the excavations of the future, in fact: to be able to imagine how we will be, some of the most analytical minds in the Italian and foreign panorama have been called upon to share their insights. Lessons in democracy, history, cinema, lessons in Matera and philosophy have sparked the curiosity and participation of citizens.