The Portella della Ginestra Memorial is visited every year by hundreds of schoolchildren who come from different Italian regions. Thousands of young people visit this place of memory and still luckily for them they can hear the testimonies of the survivors of the massacre of 1 May 1947.
Even today the Portella della Ginestra massacre is shamefully covered by the State Secret, however many only historians such as our Francesco Petrotta, who continue to seek the truth of the facts going beyond the official versions of the records.
So I leave it to historians to write about the massacre but as an art lover, I would like to share with you some of my reflections on the Portella della Ginestra Memorial which, in addition to being a place of memory, is also an amazing example of Land Art.
The Memorial was built in 1979-80 on a project by the artist Ettore de Conciliis who had already expressed himself brilliantly on other Land Art installations. It is certain that Portella della Ginestra was not a common place but a place of memory in which a bloody and bloody slaughter had been consummated.
The Portella della Ginestra Memorial has always fascinated me also from a monumental point of view. I remember when I was very young I tried to ask someone to explain to me the symbolism of that memorial in that sacred place but I often received answers that indicated only the total lack of knowledge of what I wanted to know. The only and common answers I was given were always the same. That the artist was perhaps on the left, that if you looked at the Memorial from above you could see the hammer and sickle reproduced and that there was the stone of Barbato. Answers that despite being so young I perceived as limited and limiting and that continued to stimulate my curiosity and my research.
In 2001, by chance, I came across a text that was the most comprehensive and pleasant answer to my many questions. This volume was presented with a cover that reproduced a sunset that I had already seen many times and which was tinged with a fiery red full of energy, it had the title "Portella della Ginestra" and immediately under "Ettore De Conciliis", I had found my answers.
I remember having read and reread the volume with great interest because I was finally offered the opportunity to discover the Portella della Ginestra Memorial thanks to the privileged guidance of those who had conceived, designed and built it. Without filters, without improvised interpretations.
Furthermore, the volume is full of extraordinary black and white photos made by Aurelio Amendola that make the reading experience even more immersive.
For those like me who would like to find out more about the Portella della Ginestra Memorial, this volume is not to be missed and is also a volume that is now rare and difficult to find.
The number of copies in our possession is very limited and the requests are already many.
We are pleased to also offer you the VISITPIANA10 coupon, to be included in the check out, which will entitle you to a 10% discount. Click the box below to purchase the volume.
Enjoy the reading
Salvatore Vasotti
@visitpiana.com
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