{"id":28797,"date":"2025-12-10T15:27:00","date_gmt":"2025-12-10T14:27:00","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/italics.art\/?post_type=tip&p=28797"},"modified":"2025-12-10T15:27:05","modified_gmt":"2025-12-10T14:27:05","slug":"the-arab-roots-of-basilicata-are-hidden-in-pietrapertosa","status":"publish","type":"tip","link":"https:\/\/italics.art\/en\/tip\/the-arab-roots-of-basilicata-are-hidden-in-pietrapertosa\/","title":{"rendered":"The Arab roots of Basilicata are hidden in Pietrapertosa"},"content":{"rendered":"\n
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I climbed up and down again, alone, through the familiar little streets until I reached the church, in the wind, at the top of the village, to take another look at the whole horizon, which stretches immensely beyond the borders of Lucania. Below me, the houses of the village, with their yellowish roofs, and then the undulating, grayish descent of the mountain down to the Basento, and, in front, the mountains of Accettura, from those further down that hide Ferrandina, to the Dolomites of Pietrapertosa, behind which the riverbed fades away.<\/em><\/em><\/p>\n<\/blockquote>\n\n\n\n

Carlo Levi, Christ Stopped at Eboli<\/em><\/em><\/p>\n\n\n

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Courtesy Pietrapertosa Municipality. Photo: Samuele Scartabelli<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n<\/div>\n\n\n

Instructions: open Google Maps. Type Basilicata. Locate Potenza. Zoom in, zoom in, zoom in \u2013 Pietrapertosa.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Nestled in the Lucanian Dolomites, Pietrapertosa is a small village with just 924 inhabitants in Potenza\u2019s district. Since its founding, it has been a crossroads of cultures and peoples, leaving visible traces such as the Arabata district, the oldest part of the village, named after the Arabs who founded the village. Palestinian artist Emily Jacir was excavating these roots when by chance a local woman kindly invited her into her home and explained that the importance of hospitality among the people of Pietrapertosa stems from their Arab origins.\u00a0<\/p>\n\n\n

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Courtesy Pietrapertosa Municipality. Photo: Samuele Scartabelli<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n<\/div>\n\n\n

Indeed, to celebrate this shared space and common heritage, the artist created a work that transcends national borders, linking Basilicata to Palestine. The final result is a circular sculpture, measuring 179 cm in diameter and 6 cm in thickness, crafted from Gorgoglione stone by a team of female marble workers. On the medallion, an inscription in both Italian and Arabic delivers a welcoming message: \u201cSei venuto tra la nostra gente e la tua vita \u00e8 sicura\u201d [You have come amongst our people and your life is safe].<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Once completed, the work made its way to Turin, where it was exhibited during the group show \u201cPush the Limits\u201d at the Fondazione Merz \u2013 curated by Claudia Gioia and Beatrice Merz. The sculpture, through the support of the Merz Foundation and the Municipality of Pietrapertosa, was then permanently installed in Pietrapertosa.<\/p>\n\n\n

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Pietrapertosa, 2019-2020, gorgoglione, 179 cm \u00d8. Produced by Fondazione Matera Basilicata 2019, Fondazione Merz, assistants on the project Giuseppe Nora, Qais Assali. Courtesy the artist, Fondazione Matera Basilicata 2019, Fondazione Merz, Pietrapertosa Municipality (PZ). Photo: Emily Jacir 2020 \u00a9 Emily Jacir 2020<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n<\/div>\n\n\n

<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

I climbed up and down again, alone, through the familiar little streets until I reached the church, in the wind, at the top of the village, to take another look at the whole horizon, which stretches immensely beyond the borders of Lucania. Below me, the houses of the village, with their yellowish roofs, and then …<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":5,"featured_media":28792,"template":"","categories":[97,108,85,127],"tags":[637,538,280,643],"class_list":["post-28797","tip","type-tip","status-publish","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-art","category-contemporary","category-landscape","category-places-en","tag-arte-contemporanea-en","tag-basilicata-en","tag-itineraries","tag-paesaggi","gallerist-rebecca-papi"],"acf":[],"yoast_head":"\nThe Arab roots of Basilicata in Pietrapertosa - Italics Art and Landscape<\/title>\n<meta name=\"description\" content=\"The Arab roots of Basilicata are hidden in Pietrapertosa\" \/>\n<meta name=\"robots\" content=\"index, follow, max-snippet:-1, max-image-preview:large, max-video-preview:-1\" \/>\n<link rel=\"canonical\" href=\"https:\/\/italics.art\/en\/tip\/the-arab-roots-of-basilicata-are-hidden-in-pietrapertosa\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:locale\" content=\"en_US\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:type\" content=\"article\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:title\" content=\"The Arab roots of Basilicata in Pietrapertosa - Italics Art and Landscape\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:description\" content=\"The Arab roots of Basilicata are hidden in Pietrapertosa\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:url\" content=\"https:\/\/italics.art\/en\/tip\/the-arab-roots-of-basilicata-are-hidden-in-pietrapertosa\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:site_name\" content=\"Italics\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:modified_time\" content=\"2025-12-10T14:27:05+00:00\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:image\" content=\"https:\/\/italics.art\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/11\/Courtesy-Comune-di-Pietrapertosa-Ph-Samuele-Scartabelli.jpg\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:width\" content=\"3961\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:height\" content=\"2879\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:type\" content=\"image\/jpeg\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:card\" content=\"summary_large_image\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:label1\" content=\"Est. reading time\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:data1\" content=\"3 minutes\" \/>\n<script type=\"application\/ld+json\" class=\"yoast-schema-graph\">{\"@context\":\"https:\\\/\\\/schema.org\",\"@graph\":[{\"@type\":\"WebPage\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/italics.art\\\/en\\\/tip\\\/the-arab-roots-of-basilicata-are-hidden-in-pietrapertosa\\\/\",\"url\":\"https:\\\/\\\/italics.art\\\/en\\\/tip\\\/the-arab-roots-of-basilicata-are-hidden-in-pietrapertosa\\\/\",\"name\":\"The Arab roots of Basilicata in Pietrapertosa - Italics Art and Landscape\",\"isPartOf\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/italics.art\\\/#website\"},\"primaryImageOfPage\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/italics.art\\\/en\\\/tip\\\/the-arab-roots-of-basilicata-are-hidden-in-pietrapertosa\\\/#primaryimage\"},\"image\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/italics.art\\\/en\\\/tip\\\/the-arab-roots-of-basilicata-are-hidden-in-pietrapertosa\\\/#primaryimage\"},\"thumbnailUrl\":\"https:\\\/\\\/italics.art\\\/wp-content\\\/uploads\\\/2025\\\/11\\\/Courtesy-Comune-di-Pietrapertosa-Ph-Samuele-Scartabelli.jpg\",\"datePublished\":\"2025-12-10T14:27:00+00:00\",\"dateModified\":\"2025-12-10T14:27:05+00:00\",\"description\":\"The Arab roots of Basilicata are hidden in Pietrapertosa\",\"breadcrumb\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/italics.art\\\/en\\\/tip\\\/the-arab-roots-of-basilicata-are-hidden-in-pietrapertosa\\\/#breadcrumb\"},\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"potentialAction\":[{\"@type\":\"ReadAction\",\"target\":[\"https:\\\/\\\/italics.art\\\/en\\\/tip\\\/the-arab-roots-of-basilicata-are-hidden-in-pietrapertosa\\\/\"]}]},{\"@type\":\"ImageObject\",\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/italics.art\\\/en\\\/tip\\\/the-arab-roots-of-basilicata-are-hidden-in-pietrapertosa\\\/#primaryimage\",\"url\":\"https:\\\/\\\/italics.art\\\/wp-content\\\/uploads\\\/2025\\\/11\\\/Courtesy-Comune-di-Pietrapertosa-Ph-Samuele-Scartabelli.jpg\",\"contentUrl\":\"https:\\\/\\\/italics.art\\\/wp-content\\\/uploads\\\/2025\\\/11\\\/Courtesy-Comune-di-Pietrapertosa-Ph-Samuele-Scartabelli.jpg\",\"width\":3961,\"height\":2879,\"caption\":\"Courtesy Pietrapertosa Municipality. 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