PASCALI 90 - L'eterno selvaggio bambino (1935-2025)

**"PASCALI 90 – THE ETERNAL WILD CHILD (1935-2025) BARI CELEBRATES THE 90TH ANNIVERSARY OF THE FAMOUS APULIAN ARTIST"**

**Monday, October 13, 2025,** starting at 5:00 PM in the evocative Aula Magna "Aldo Cossu" at the Palazzo dell’Ateneo of the University of Bari, the event **"Pascali 90 – The Eternal Wild Child"** will take place. It is promoted by the Aps Incontri on the occasion of the 90th anniversary of the birth of the famous Apulian artist Pino Pascali (1935-2025). Born in Bari on October 19, 1935, to parents originally from Polignano a Mare, Pascali has always been a symbolic figure of Italian contemporary art and Mediterranean cultural vitality. Bari is not only the birthplace of Pascali, but it is also an integral part of his journey, his formation, and his perspective on nature and the Apulian landscape. The event “Pascali 90” aims to strengthen this relationship with the local community, inviting the public to rediscover his artistic thought, his irony, the strength of his toy sculptures, and the breath of his current legacy. This invitation to the public has been made in the past by the organizers through various events held in the Apulian capital in memory of the artist, always emphasizing the link between Pascali and the city of Bari.

At the heart of the event is the screening of the rare film “Pino Pascali – My Soul that Speaks with Death” property of the precious Archivio Incontri-TPE (a documentary archive recently reorganized and cataloged thanks to funding from the General Directorate of Archives). Directed and written by Santa Fizzarotti Selvaggi, with a screenplay by Angela Campanella and the collaboration of Valentina Bonomo, the film was made in 1982 at the Pascali family's home in Polignano a Mare in the presence of the artist's parents. It is a highly important video document that provides previously unseen images of the artist's life – personal objects, scenic sketches (The Count of Monte Cristo and The Betrothed), and artworks (including the “Trap,” captured at the Carrieri Gallery in Martina Franca) – and takes us, almost magically, back to Pascali's original home, where his roots run deep. Due to its historical-artistic importance, the video received the “Art Without Borders” award from the Centre Culturel du Monde Byzantin in 2019 during an event dedicated to the artist.

The strength of the film lies precisely in its memorial dimension: it is not just a chronicle, but a living testament, an opportunity to enter the time of the "now" through the tangible remnants of the past. As the silent sound of the image guides us through Pascali's domestic and creative spaces, his artistic gesture breathes once again among walls, lights, and objects that were his.

Following the greetings from Alessandra Lopez, president of the Municipality 2 of Bari, there will be contributions from Angela Campanella, director and documentarian, Costantino Foschini, journalist and director, Giancarlo Liuzzi, president of Aps Incontri and head of the Archivio Incontri-TPE, Santa Fizzarotti Selvaggi, art critic and writer, and Francesco Schiavulli, an artist always inspired by Pascali's work. The meeting will be hosted by journalist and writer Michele Cristallo. Gianfranco Liuzzi will read the imaginary interview with Pascali contained in the book “Pino Pascali – I Am a Wild Child” (1983 – reprint 2018) by Santa Fizzarotti Selvaggi and Valentina Bonomo.

With Pascali 90, the aim is to offer the public an event that combines memory and vision, emotion and discovery: an invitation to look into the archive of time through the eyes of an artist who spoke with the earth, with water, and with memory itself.