Myth and fantasy meet in the heart of Salento. Salice Salentino, in the province of Lecce, is preparing to host the third edition of Salicomix, the fair dedicated to comics, animation, role-playing and board games, card gaming and video games, scheduled for Saturday, August 30 and Sunday, August 31, 2025. An event that every year attracts fans of all ages and that in this edition finds its common thread in mythology, transforming the Salento village into a place where imagination merges with history.
The absolute protagonist will be the Chronicles of Arcane Creatures project, born from the collaboration between Salicomix, the National Archaeological Museum of Taranto - MArTA and theAcademy of Fine Arts of Lecce. Students of the Comics course, led by lecturer Enrico Rollo, had access to the collections of the Taranto museum to delve into the representations of mythological creatures of antiquity. This experience resulted in a series of eight original works ranging from comics to multimedia illustration, offering a new interpretation of the mythical figures preserved in the archaeological finds.
Each student chose to engage with a different subject, tying in with MArTA works from the Greek and Roman periods. Thus the Gorgon has found new life in Veronica De Braco’s illustration Anástasis of the Gorgon, inspired by antefixes with gorgoneion (gorgon image) dated between the 6th and 5th centuries B.C., while the myth of the Centaur is revived in Suamj Paiano’s Centauromachia, inspired by a red-figure Proto-Apulian volute crater from the late 5th century B.C. Sirens are the protagonists of Margherita Salamida’s work, born from the observation of 6th-century B.C.E. Ionic balsam jars, and Alessandra Argentiero has reinterpreted the Sphinx with The Enigma in the Shadows, harking back to an Attic black-figure lekythos (an oil vase).
The journey among mythical figures continued with Giorgia Rizzo, who tackled the legend of the Minotaur in Inside the Labyrinth, linked to an Attic lekythos from the late sixth to early fifth century B.C, while Michael Nacci shaped the Chimera inspired by an Apulian red-figureoinochoe (wine jug) from the 4th century B.C. Michele Leopizzi chose to represent the Griffon, drawing inspiration from a floor mosaic from the Roman era, and finally Marta Francesca Basile restored new strength to the Ketos, the sea monster of Greek tradition, drawing inspiration from a red-figure Apula loutrophoros (a vase with an elongated neck and two handles) from the 4th century B.C.
The eight panels will be displayed in the evocative setting of the Convent of Our Lady of the Visitation in Salice Salentino, built in 1587 by Giovanni Antonio I Albricci and intended for reformed Franciscan friars. The display will be enriched by digital reproductions of MArTA’s archaeological finds, aimed at creating a direct bridge between past and present, between ancient art and contemporary creativity. This is the hallmark of the project: to give new life to Greek and Roman myths by translating them into visual languages that are accessible and immediate for today’s audiences, especially young people.
The initiative aims to propose itself as a path of cultural rediscovery. Indeed, the exhibition presents a reinterpretation of the archaeological heritage through the eyes and sensibility of the new generations, offering a fresh look at figures that belong to the collective memory of humanity. It is also a way of reaffirming the link between Salento and the world of Magna Graecia, an area that was a crossroads of cultures and that today is reinterpreted in a creative key.
Salicomix 2025 thus stands at the crossroads of fantasy, history and artistic experimentation. Mythological creatures become symbols of storytelling and research, going beyond the role of mere legends to become tools of dialogue between eras and languages. The exhibition invites visitors to discover how art can renew myth and transmit it with new forms of expression, projecting it into the future without betraying its essence.
The event is made possible thanks to the patronage of the Ministry of Culture, the Region of Puglia, the Province of Lecce and Rai Puglia, with Rai Radio Kids as the official media partner. The organization is taken care of by the Municipality of Salice Salentino together with the associations Pro Loco and Salic’è, with contributions from the University of Salento, ACSI - Association of Culture Sport and Leisure, the Game of Thrones Studio Tour of Banbridge in Ireland and the Lupiae School of Comics in Lecce.
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| Salento, Taranto's MArTa and Salicomix festival bring archaeology and comics together |
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