Good afternoon, everyone. Due to a health issue, I am unable to attend in person, but I still wish to express my appreciation for Andrea Benetti’s exhibition.
I was truly fascinated by this original project in which the artist has reinterpreted and reimagined, through his artistic vision, some examples of cave painting discovered in the Fumane Cave, dating back to the Paleolithic period—over 40,000 years ago.
What makes this project truly unique, however, is the use of chromatic elements derived from archaeological remnants of that era—such as soil, ochre, and charcoal—thus giving life to a compelling act of material recycling that merges prehistory with the contemporary. The entire work is rendered through a highly stylized and essential iconography—two fundamental characteristics that are also at the core of modern communication systems.
I sincerely hope for the greatest success of this project, which has been made possible through the virtuous collaboration between the Universities of Bologna and Ferrara. I also hope it will help promote our prehistoric art sites across the country—starting, of course, with the Fumane Cave and the Camonica Valley, which, I would like to recall, was the first Italian site to be inscribed on the UNESCO World Heritage List in 1979.