PULCINELLARIFAVOLA

PULCINELLARIFAVOLA – Text by Stefano de Matteis

When we are presented with Fairy tales, they are recounted traditionally, not embalmed with the nostalgia of the past, nor with the popularity of today. Tradition becomes the freedom of creation, the domain of fantasy where everything is contagious, striking, clashing and exploding in a melting pot of post modernity. That Pulcinella has lost all reason is incipitly written-the devil has stolen his mask. This is his state. And so the whole story develops in the quest to recover the mask and what this means. And of course, as in all self-respecting fairy stories, this trip is full of trials and obstacles to overcome. Right through to a thundering finale, which sees Pulcinella succeed in an altruistic gesture, making a sacrifice for others, finding a new community and launching a new sign for the future. This unexpected sacrifice, and the subsequent rebirth, seems to pre-date a Charlie Parker jazz solo with its syncopated rythmn, while blending the story of Pulcinella with Colapesce ,the legendary egg of the Castel dell’Ovo, according to Virgil ,and the purity and ingenuity of Jack in an attempt to save the world. What prevails, in the end, is the fear of the end,the end of the blood shed by the Saints, of the sea, of nature, of motherhood, nature becoming no longer an enemy but a mother. The new millennium, whose birth is drowned in blood, requires great sacrifices to be re-born. All these acrobatic adventures are the canvas for the fables of Chiara Graziani, who transfers such fables into the land of Campania, Pulcinella’s garden. Pulcinella as the genius of the “buatta” tomato, with an Aladone whose only aim is money and possession. All this is complimented by four guys and a writer of many false, but yet to become, true fables.
Stefano de Matteis,in “Pulcinellarifavola” exhibition catalogue,Chiesa di Severo di Pendino Naples 2004

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