43rd National Madonnari Meeting

08/15/2015

This year, the Madonnari competition in Grazie features 152 artists from Mexico, the United States, Japan, and several European countries. Among them are 20 master madonnari and talented painters, creating their works on the Sanctuary’s Forecourt using only chalk.

The Centro Italiano Madonnari, based in Grazie, organizes the event and promotes Madonnari art year-round, honoring both historical tradition and new generations through initiatives such as Gessetto Giovani and the May Infiorata.

The jury, led by renowned illustrator Paolo Barbieri, awards original works that reflect personal style and interpretation, helping to keep alive a 600-year-old artistic tradition. The festival celebrates Mantuan culture and the Feast of the Assumption, welcoming citizens and visitors to four days of art and beauty.

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Marina Ferrari - President of Pro Loco Curtatone
This year we have 152 participants, they come from ten countries. Then we have the return of one of our historic street artists, Tino Sagiomo, who hadn’t come for 25 years. He is 80 years old, but this year he wanted to come to say hello. The participating countries include people from Mexico, Argentina, Colombia, America—specifically California—and then we have Romania, Poland, Austria, Switzerland, Japan. So, in short, we have a nice selection.
The other particularity is that this year we have 20 master street artists, which will provide a nice challenge. It is expected to be a great event and will put the jury to the test. The president, Paolo Barbieri, who is a very well-known illustrator, has worked for the biggest publishing houses; in short, he is truly a giant, even though very simple, but that’s how he is.
We still have three painters, we have representatives from the local newspapers, then there is the representative of the Curia, Monsignor Manzoli, who is responsible for Art and the Diocesan Museum for the Curia, and then we have art historians and scholars, so these are people of the highest expertise. Here, on the Sanctuary’s Forecourt, we require our street artists to use only chalk, so it is not street art; it is a specific art and also connected to a specific place, like the Sanctuary of the Grazie, in a fair that is about 600 years old. So, putting all these factors together, we would like to propose to UNESCO the possibility of recognizing this art experience as intangible heritage. In our opinion, it has the characteristics, that’s it.
Carlo Bottani - Mayor of Curtatone
It is the festival of the people of Mantua, the Feast of the Assumption; it is a great joy to be able to honor the municipal administration, and we look forward to welcoming all the citizens of Mantua and beyond for this beautiful four days in Grazie. We are waiting for you.
Paola Artoni - President of Centro Italiano Madonnari
The Centro Italiano Madonnari is responsible for the organization, but above all for the protection, enhancement, and promotion of madonnari art worldwide. Our headquarters are here in Grazie, which is the heart of the Madonnari competition; in fact, in 1973 the most important madonnari art festival in the world was established here, and we try to continue this historical legacy while also keeping it alive. The CIM takes care of organizing the Grazie competition, but in reality it works all year round, collaborating with the Madonnari Art School, with the Municipality of Curtatone, working on hosting guests who come from squares all over the world to the squares of Grazie, and it is practically the heart of this memory being carried into the future.
We also take care of what is the madonnari art of the future, such as the Gessetto Giovani organized in May, the May Infiorata, and so on—initiatives that keep madonnari art alive every day of the year, 365 days a year.
Joelle Tabournel - Director of Festival di Street Painting di Tolone
Good morning, we have come to Grazie as a French delegation with four artists to represent the Toulon Festival, which takes place at the end of May in Toulon, and we are very happy to be here to represent madonnari painting, which is not very present in Toulon because it is a festival that has evolved towards street art, street painting. We invite you to come and visit Toulon next year with an entire Italian delegation. Thank you.
Paolo Barbieri - President of the jury
I would like to see personality in the works, regardless of whether one copies a Caravaggio, a Leonardo, or a Michelangelo. What I would like to see from the artists on the Forecourt is precisely their personality, their interpretation. Nothing forbids changing, let’s say even for the better, perhaps with modernity, what everyone recognizes as sacred or secular art, known worldwide. I am also an illustrator, in addition to being a master madonnaro, and so this dual vision of traditional and modern art, I believe, may also help in better judging all those artists who want to put something of themselves into original works—not copied—on the Forecourt with their chalks.
So, we’ll see, and of course, good luck to all the participants.