E fu sera e fu mattina

“Evening came and morning came”
A journey through art, fashion, music, and thought in Martina Franca

Some projects unfold like maps, others like narratives. “Evening came and morning came” belongs to the latter dimension: a cultural path that unfolds in time and space, guiding Martina Franca from April 30 to June 6, 2026, through an itinerary woven with intertwined languages and shared visions.
The program takes shape in the symbolic places of the city—Palazzo Ducale, Conservatorio Santa Maria della Misericordia, Biblioteca Isidoro Chirulli—and transforms them into traversable spaces inhabited by experiences that connect art, fashion, music, literature, and research.
Opening the journey on April 30 is the presence of Regina Schrecker, a leading figure in the international scene, who presents “Elogio della bellezza sostenibile” in the noble halls of the Palazzo Ducale. A story told through images and creations that traverse epochs and imaginary worlds: garments, costumes, and objects inspired by Dante, Andy Warhol, Basquiat, Arnaldo Pomodoro, up to the most recent experiments related to artificial intelligence. A living archive, capable of returning the continuity between tradition and innovation.
Literature integrates into the program as a space for reflection and narration. Presentations guide the audience through paths touching biographies, contemporary anxieties, and collective memories: from the last hours of Edith Piaf recounted by Teresa Caricola, to the inner landscapes and paths of medieval pilgrimage evoked by Marino Pagano and Angelo Palmieri, to the writings of Rossella Dentuto, who navigates between identity and transformation. The literary presentations will be led by Cinzia Cofano, a teacher, cultural operator, and writer who won the “Premio Adriatico. Un mare che Unisce” in 2024 and is the curator of the cultural column “Librinstreaming,” in collaboration with Tony Vinci, who will cover all scheduled events with the cameras of Valleditrialivechannel.
Music permeates the entire project with a widespread presence. Maestro Paolo Palazzo’s piano and Manuel Amati’s voice in "Solfeggi Notturni" present the music of Aprile and Perla, two of the most significant composers from Martina Franca: pieces created for teaching singing, here reinterpreted in a non-Philological reading. Almost entirely in modern premieres, the program invites rediscovery and enhancement of the historical-musical heritage of the territory, while the sounds of Simon Armenise and the performances of Luna Dragonieri, with the project TuaSorellaMinore, build soundscapes where electronics and video art engage in an immersive dialogue.
Next to the artistic appointments, the program opens spaces for exploration and research. Meetings dedicated to the relationship between art, science, and spirituality, together with reflections on the persistence of the magical in Apulian popular culture, bring back to the forefront a dimension of knowledge rooted in the local territory, with the participation of the "Alfredo Majorano" Ethnographic Museum, a commendable civic institution of the Ionic territory, established in 2003 to preserve and enhance the demological collection dedicated to the famous Taranto scholar; the specimens exhibited at the Museum articulate a precise narrative around the magical-religious rituals and popular traditions of the area at least since the 18th century. The event tells the research project of Maria Grazia Carriero, which is configured as an interdisciplinary investigation that uses the codes of contemporary art to explore and document the popular beliefs still alive in the Apulian territory. Through an exploration lasting about two years, the artist has adopted dialogue as the primary investigative tool, gathering extensive video and photographic documentation in the streets and homes of numerous municipalities in the provinces of Taranto, Bari, Brindisi, Lecce, and Foggia.
The focus of the research is the entity known as the laùru (or with local variants such as jurj’, avurie, scarcagnulu, or scazzamurrieddhu), an ambivalent "little spirit" that inhabits the collective memory of communities at risk of extinction. The investigation is not limited to mere ethnographic collection but transforms the testimonies into works of art, installations, and videos (such as the works Darkness and Parole a Sud), where the documentary and “messy” character of the recordings aims to restore the freshness and pathos of daily encounters.
Exhibitions, displays, and cultural walks complete the journey, offering further opportunities for exploration. The training in fashion with the MITA Fashion Academy Foundation presents, in the evocative spaces of the Palazzo Ducale in Martina Franca, an exhibition dedicated to the contemporary reinterpretation of Bizet's Carmen. The setup proposes a selection of outfits created by the Academy’s students, who interpret the imagery of the opera in a modern key, blending theatrical aesthetics with contemporary sensibility. The dimension of haute couture expresses itself through refined craftsmanship, material research, and attention to detail, giving life to creations that dialogue between tradition and innovation. The exhibition of popular musical instruments and the guided itineraries contribute to constructing a widespread narrative capable of engaging diverse audiences.
The project is realized with the economic support of the Municipality of Martina Franca and the moral patronage of the Region of Puglia and the Province of Taranto, conceived by the Caracciolo De Sangro Foundation, Aps Federico II, Aps Liberuomo, and Vallisa.
The initiative “Evening came and morning came” thus becomes a time to inhabit. Martina Franca welcomes this movement and returns it through its spaces, its layers, its openings. A narrative that unfolds day by day, allowing connections, encounters, and new perspectives to emerge.