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San Sperate is a pleasant town , plunged in the countryside at 20 km from Cagliari. It is one of the most important site in Sardinia for the production of citrus fruits, apricots, wheat, grains, vegetables and, above all, peaches, for which in the last 20 years it has become the biggest producer of Sardinia.
Since 1968 it is a “museum town”, an open museum that through the years has aroused the interest of local, national and international artists, that are the authors of the works of arts currently displayed.
Discovering San Sperate is to notice that modern times and technology can perfectly integrate with the simplicity of values and ancient traditions, wisely kept alive.
Birth of the museum town
It all began in the day of Corpus Domini of 1966, when a group of friends guided by Pinuccio Sciola, started to colour in white the walls of the houses in the town. Then, invited by Sciola himself, the first one who did it, all the citizens of San Sperate began to paint their own works of art on the white walls. This was the birth of a new town, that was called “Paese Museo” (museum town) in 1967. Nowadays San Sperate has more than 320 murals on the walls, on the houses and on the public buildings; these murals have been painted by artists from all over the world, that every year come to San Sperate, invited by local artists or with scholarships offered by the municipality. Apart from murals, the town is place of various permanent artistic installations, which make the town a real open museum.
Sound Stones
Not only shapes but also sounds: the stones have a voice and Pinuccio Sciola succedeed in taking it out. Hit by a hammer and a chisel, the stone produces sounds. If it is caressed in the right way, it produces a melody. Sciola discovered this talent, especially by carving the basalt, a very hard stone, and by experimenting other stones, such as the limestone.
The stone is carved by parallel cuts of different lengths and, when it is brushed, it generates sounds of different intensities, that evoke deep emotions. Each stone has its own sound, that seems to tell us the origins of the matter, a different voice for every stone.
The sound stones are displayed in the open Pinuccio Sciola’s workshops, in San Sperate and Borore. Some of them can be seen in Venice, Assisi, Rome and, periodically, in travelling exhibitions all around the world.
DESCRIPTION OF THE TOUR
While walking through the streets of the town, you will have a taste of the various types of murals and different techniques used by painters and the function of the language of murals, that has many artistic and social implications.
The sculpture too has a prominent position in the artistic identity of San Sperate. In the streets and the squares it is possible to admire many sculptures of finely carved stones and other art installations made of many diverse materials.
The tour also counts the visit at the Pinuccio Sciola’s museum house or the workshop; in the meanwhile you will admire his works of art and, if you are lucky, you could also meet in person the discoverer of the sound stones.
