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Fiumara was created by Antonio Presti in the early 1980s. On the death of his father, an enthusiast collector of contemporary art, Antonio thought about dedicating a monument to the memory of his parent. The sculptor Pietro Consagra created it and Antonio donated that beautiful work of art to the local community.
Antonio then chose a place where to exhibit the monument, along with several other future creations: he selected “Fiumara di Tusa”, the bed of an ancient river among the Nebrodi Mountains, which used to flow to the old city of Halesa, some 13 miles away.
This river, dry in summer but usually flooded in winter, runs across a landscape which is partly stony and dry, and partly full of luxuriant vegetation.

Today, several works of art are exhibited in that very area. They’ve been created by artists from all over the world. Unfortunately, the very inauguration of Fiumara d’arte coincided with the beginning of some legal and judicial disputes with the local authorities.
The seizure of some works of arts soon followed, and the Fiumana was closed and impounded.

Only recently, Antonio Presti’s art project has been saved from demolition, having been acquitted from the previous accusations of illegal activity and violation landscape protection laws.

Several works of art are thus still exhibited today, including: “Matter could not exist” by Pietro Consegra (dedicated by Presti to the memory of the Father), “A curve thrown behind the wind” by Paolo Schiavocampo, “Mediterranean wave” by Antonio di Palma, and “Monument to a dead poet” by Tano Festa.

For 25 years, this place has reconciled its symbolic value of sculpture with the material one, fully recognized by the institutions; it thus retains a priceless artistic heritage thanks to the acclaimed works of many international artists (some of them fought hard to defend Fiumara d’Arte during the abovementioned disputes).

This post is also available in: Italiano (Italian)