Pasquale Li Puma

»Madonie Geopark. A fascinating source for art inspirations«

Abstract

The Madonie Geopark in Italy, Sicily, after comparisons and reflections about Land Art in the world, during the winter of 2004 had the enlightening idea of commissioning the Vie dell’Arte project. The initial intent was simply to give the artists the opportunity to execute sculptures along the roads that connect the 15 communities in the protected area of the park, along with their territories. However, numerous and productive discussions led to the understanding that the Parco delle Madonie area had to be read as a whole and not as the sum of its territories, and thus the choice of the artists’ work and the sites had to be seen as and indicate a concrete opportunity in this sense. But the story is told in the book “Parco delle Madonie – Le Vie dell’Arte”, designed as a true guide to the park rather than as a catalogue of artworks. Because all the works, as we shall see in this presentation inside the International Forest Art Conference, were created with the aim of guiding the visitor through the marvels of the Madonie Geopark.

Another source of inspiration of art in the Madonie Geopark was the first edition of the international biennial exhibition of rock-salt sculpture, “Salt…Desire for Art”, conceived and enacted in the Madonie Park in the year 2011. It was a unique event in its kind for which ten artists carved as many blocks of rock-salt. The works were lastly placed inside the mine among other three permanent artistic installations. The event aimed to set going underground geo-touristic enjoyment of the only mining reality existing inside the Madonie Geopark.

With other source of artistic inspiration, on the theme “Making Theatre: Ecological Fables – Puppets and marionettes at the Sicilian Puppet Museum (MOPS)”, some workshops were created for eighty young students, led by the Master Puppeteer Angelo Sicilia and by Sicilian Folk Puppetry, from 18 July to 5 August 2011, at the Civic Museum in Caltavuturo, another municipality of the Madonie Geopark. The children conceived and staged a lot of different stories after building the little theatres and the marionettes, and the puppets with leftover material. The protagonists were rocks, trees, drops of water, the sun, the mountain and wood animals, skilfully turned into pathways of games, theatre, manual ability, drawing and stagecraft.

Well, what can one say about “Madonie Geopark: a source of inspiration of art”?
It was a big success!

Biographie

Seit 1991 führt der Geologe Pasquale Li Puma administrative Aufgaben im Naturschutz im Madonie Geopark aus. Seit 2002 ist er auch verantwortlich für das Base Operational Unit 5, In.F.E.A. und Geoparks. Hier widmet er sich umweltpädagogischen Aufgaben und der Entwicklung des Madonie Geoparks. Ausserdem ist er für die Informationen über den Geopark, die Ausbildung und Umweltpädagogik innerhalb des Geoparks und die Förderung des freizeitlichen Nutzungsangebots verantwortlich. Dies alles geschieht in Übereinstimmung mit den Zielen des European Geoparks Network, das unter der Schirmherrschaft der UNESCO arbeitet. Durch seine Ausbildung und die Erfahrungen die er auch seit 2033 als Mitglied des Koordinationskomitees des European Geoparks Network erworben hat, kennt er die Grundlagen der Environmental Interpretation und er ist daran interessiert Prinzipien im Wissenstransfer und der Förderung des freizeitlichen Nutzungsangebots im Madonie Geopark anzuwenden. In Zusammenhang mit dem natürlichen und kulturellen, auch modernen künstlerischem Erbe, trägt dies zur Bildung und der lokalen nachhaltigen Entwicklung bei, die vom Geopark verfolgt wird.