Renato Leotta. CONCERTINO per il mare

The exhibition CONCERTINO per il mare (for the Sea) focuses on a broad research project by Renato Leotta (1982, lives and works in Turin and Syracuse) rooted in the observation of the ecosystem of the seabed of the Mediterranean Sea. Proposing a possible form of interspecies communication, the artist interpreted the internal structure of the leaves of Posidonia oceanica (Neptune grass) by reading them as if they were a musical score. This process produced sound tracks audible to the human ear that the artist organized into a sound installation and a concert to be performed live. Drawing attention to the importance of a circular ecosystem, CONCERTINO per il mare invites us to listen to stories of migration, adaptation, encounters, and struggles for survival through time, from the distant past to an uncertain future. Set up in the historic galleries of the Castello, the exhibition presents for the first time the sound installation in dialogue with a series of photographic prints made by the artist using experimental techniques and the original music sheets on which Leotta transcribed the musical notes and drafted ideas about the project.

Posidonia oceanica is an aquatic plant endemic to the Mediterranean Sea. The species originated more than a hundred million years ago from terrestrial plants and evolved by adapting to the marine environment. Posidonia meadows are home to a variety of life forms. They are of great importance to the health of the sea, and protect neighboring territories from erosion. In recent decades, increasing coastal anthropization has led to a noticeable decline in Posidonia meadows. Known as the lung of the Mediterranean, Posidonia produces oxygen, and the artist’s choice to have the music performed by wind instruments can be traced back to this vital function of the plant.

The exhibition presents, for the first time in Italy, the project commissioned by Castello di Rivoli and Istanbul Biennial winner of the 10th edition of the Italian Council, international program to support Italian contemporary art, promoted by the Directorate-General for Contemporary Creativity of the Italian Ministry of Culture. The work was first exhibited in 2022 at the 17th Istanbul Biennial, where it was installed at Hammam Çinili, an Ottoman building dating back to the 16th century.

Conducted by Giampaolo Pretto, the live concert Ondina. Concert for the Sea in Three Movements is performed by the Turin Philharmonic Orchestra, following its debut with musicians from the Borusan Istanbul Philharmonic Orchestra, and thanks to the collaboration with the composer Federico Bisozzi, during the opening days of the Istanbul Biennial

The concert is held Saturday, November 4 at 9 p.m., at Concert Hall, Giuseppe Verdi State Conservatory of Music, Turin.

Project supported by the Directorate-General for Contemporary Creativity within the Italian Ministry of Culture under the Italian Council program (2021).

With thanks to Silvia Fiorucci for her support of the exhibition catalogue/record

Thanks to the Cultural Partners: Area Marina Protetta “Isole Ciclopi”, Aci Castello, Catania; CNR IAS Istituto per lo Studio degli Impatti Antropici e Sostenibilità in Ambiente Marino, Roma; FHNW Academy of Art and Design, Basel; Istituto Sicilia, Acireale, Catania; NMNM – Nouveau Musée National di Monaco, Monaco; Parco Archeologico e Paesaggistico di Siracusa, Eloro, Villa del Tellaro e Akrai, Siracusa; Teatro Stabile di Catania.

The artist also thanks the musicians Simone Alessandrini, Luca Cipriano, Luca D’Aversa, Giuseppe Di Liddo, Fabio Gianolla, Simona Maffei, Tommaso Novi, Roman Villanueva e / and Sprovieri Gallery, London.