E fu sera e fu mattina

"Evening came and morning followed"
In Martina Franca, a journey through art, fashion, music, and thought.

There are projects that develop like maps, and others like stories. "Evening came and morning followed" belongs to this second dimension: a cultural pathway that unfolds in time and space, guiding Martina Franca from April 30 to June 6, 2026, in an itinerary made up of intertwined languages and shared visions.
The program takes shape in the emblematic places of the city — Palazzo Ducale, Conservatorio Santa Maria della Misericordia, Biblioteca Isidoro Chirulli — transforming them into traversable spaces inhabited by experiences that connect art, fashion, music, literature, and research.
Kicking off the journey on April 30 is Regina Schrecker, a leading figure on the international scene, who presents "Elogio della bellezza sostenibile" in the noble halls of the Palazzo Ducale. A tale told through images and creations that traverse eras and imaginaries: garments, costumes, and objects inspired by Dante, Andy Warhol, Basquiat, Arnaldo Pomodoro, all the way to more recent experiments linked to artificial intelligence. A living archive capable of restoring the continuity between tradition and innovation.
Literature plays a significant role in the program, serving as a space for reflection and narration. Presentations guide the audience through paths touching on biographies, contemporary anxieties, and collective memories: from the final hours of Edith Piaf as told by Teresa Caricola, to the interior landscapes and the paths of medieval pilgrimage evoked by Marino Pagano and Angelo Palmieri, all the way to the writing of Rossella Dentuto, which moves between identity and transformation. The literary presentations will be led by Cinzia Cofano, an educator, cultural operator, and writer who won the "Premio Adriatico. Un mare che Unisce" in 2024, and curator of the cultural column "Librinstreaming", in collaboration with Tony Vinci, who will follow all scheduled events with cameras from Valleditrialivechannel.
Music pervades the entire project with a widespread presence. The piano of Maestro Paolo Palazzo and the voice of Manuel Amati in Solfeggi Notturni present the music of Aprile and Perla, two of Martina Franca's most significant composers: pieces created for singing education, reproduced here in a non-philological reinterpretation. Almost entirely in modern premiere, the program invites the 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 TuaSorellaMinore project create sound environments where electronics and video art engage in an immersive dialogue.
Alongside the artistic appointments, the program opens spaces for in-depth study and research. Meetings dedicated to the relationship between art, science, and spirituality, along with reflections on the persistence of the magical in Apulian popular culture, recenter a dimension of knowledge that is rooted in the territory, with the participation of the Etnographic Museum "Alfredo Majorano," a distinguished civic institution of the Ionian territory, established in 2003 to preserve and enhance the ethnological collection named after the famed Taranto scholar; the exemplars on display at the Museum indeed articulate a precise narrative around magical-religious rituals and the popular traditions of the area dating back at least to the 18th century. The event narrates the research project of Maria Grazia Carriero, which is framed as an interdisciplinary inquiry that uses the codes of contemporary art to explore and document the popular beliefs still alive in the Apulian territory. Through a survey lasting about two years, the artist has adopted dialogue as a primary investigative tool, collecting a vast array of video and photographic documentation in the streets and homes of various municipalities in the provinces of Taranto, Bari, Brindisi, Lecce, and Foggia.
The focus of the research is the entity known as laùru (or with local variants such as jurj’, avurie, scarcagnulu, or scazzamurrieddhu), an ambivalent "domestic spirit" that inhabits the collective memory of communities on the brink of extinction. The investigation does not limit itself to mere ethnographic collection but transforms testimonies into works of art, installations, and videos (such as the works Darkness and Parole a Sud), where the documentary and "raw" nature of the recordings aims to convey the freshness and pathos of everyday encounters.

Exhibitions, displays, and cultural walks complement the journey, providing additional opportunities for engagement. The training in fashion with the Fondazione Academy MITA Moda presents, in the evocative spaces of the Palazzo Ducale in Martina Franca, an exhibition dedicated to the contemporary reinterpretation of Carmen by Bisset. The setup proposes a selection of outfits made by the Academy's students, who reinterpret the opera's imagery in a modern key, merging theatrical aesthetics with contemporary sensitivity. The sartorial dimension of haute couture takes center stage, expressed through refined craftsmanship, material research, and attention to detail, giving life to creations that dialogue between tradition and innovation. The exhibition of folk musical instruments and guided itineraries contribute to building a widespread narrative capable of engaging diverse audiences.
The project is realized with the economic support of the Municipality of Martina Franca and with the moral sponsorship of the Puglia Region and the Province of Taranto, conceived by the Fondazione Caracciolo De Sangro, Aps Federico II, Aps Liberuomo, and Vallisa.
The initiative "Evening came and morning followed" thus becomes a time to inhabit. Martina Franca embraces this movement and reflects it through its spaces, its layers, its openings. A story that unfolds day by day, allowing connections, encounters, and new perspectives to emerge.