Art and nature. This is the combination proposed by the project Neo-Cave Painting. The Castellana Caves—one of the natural wonders of our land of Bari—will host the works of Andrea Benetti, creator and signatory of the Neo-Cave Art Manifesto, presented at the 2009 edition of the Venice Biennale.
“Let us start again from that cave painting, which primitive man—far wiser than us—created on rocky walls to win the favor of supernatural forces,” urges Maestro Benetti. “For its part,” Benetti adds, “this is what art can do. It is certainly a symbolic new beginning, but symbols often possess a strength equaled only by the force of nature—the very nature that we must learn once again to respect and love.”
I fully embrace these intentions and the path they suggest, for more than one reason.
It is the essence of nature, of our human nature placed within the environment that surrounds us, that we must cultivate more and more, promoting it as a means to free ourselves from our daily lives—where we often chase things that hold no real meaning. From this perspective, the environment and the marvels of nature must be regarded as a gift we have received, a treasure we are duty-bound to preserve from the excesses of consumerism and modernity so that future generations may also enjoy them.
If our natural treasures become spaces for art exhibitions—as is happening with this project designed for the Castellana Caves—we will learn to cherish even more the beauty of our world and reclaim that yearning for the transcendent that early humans carried within themselves and expressed on the rocky walls that formed the boundaries of their homes.
I truly hope that many will come to admire Maestro Benetti’s works, and I also hope—together with the Provincial Administration of Bari—to facilitate further artistic initiatives with the same cultural significance as this project.