Tales of Palavesuvio

Luca Ciriello’s gaze comes to rest on the abandoned site of Ponticelli’s Palavesuvio, which for a long time represented hope for a deprived district on the outskirts of Naples, and then became the symbol of a society made of illusions and contradictions. Devised as part of an intervention plan to revive the area after the earthquake in 1980, today all that remains of the enormous sports facilities are the three gyms, while the rest of the site has been left to vandals and the ravages of time. Ciriello shows us the point of view of the local community, giving life to its memories, both individual and collective, to describe not only a place, but also humanity that, with the nostalgia of memory, still finds the strength to keep alive the hope of returning to a glorious past.

Claudia Maci
Managing Director of Festival dei Popoli