From March 28 to May 17, 2026, the Pieve di San Siro, a Romanesque building of historical and spiritual value located in Cemmo in the municipality of Capo di Ponte, in the heart of the Camonica Valley, a UNESCO-recognized site, will host the exhibition Terre rupestri e Terremobili, by painter and illustrator Tullio Pericoli. The exhibition was born from the encounter between the language ofcontemporary art and the millenary heritage of rock engravings in the valley, giving rise to a dialogue between past and present that accompanies the visitor on a path between signs, landscape and identity, offering a new interpretation of the historical-artistic heritage in relation also to current geopolitical changes.
The initiative, promoted and curated by thed’ADA Cultural Association in collaboration with the artist and supported by various entities and partners, including the Lucefin Industrial Group, El.da Srl, the Brescian Community Foundation, the Mountain Community, the UNESCO site of Valle Camonica, the Municipality of Capo di Ponte and the Valle dei Segni Foundation, with Sky Arte as media partner, highlights how rock signs, the basis of our visual culture, continue to stimulate contemporary creativity through artistic, sociological and anthropological reinterpretations.
The exhibition presents thirty-one oil-on-canvas paintings in which Pericoli reinterprets the signs of ancient engravings as movement, memory and change of the earth: these works originate from his encounter with Iron Age graffiti, which represented the creative matrix of the Terremobili series, an original reflection on the fragility of natural landscapes inspired by the primordial and archetypal signs of the archaeological park maps, particularly that of Bedolina in Capo di Ponte. The paintings exhibited in Cemmo stand out for their strong expressive intensity, where the dialogue between sign and color generates dynamic compositions that relate ancient signs to some dramatic images of the present.
The layout follows aminimalist approach, designed to respect the balance and identity of the Pieve without altering its nature, thanks to light and essential structures that accompany the visitor, letting the power of the works emerge while fully respecting the sacredness of the space. A fundamental role is played by the lighting, which is also designed with narrative purposes in mind: carefully calibrated beams of light enhance the pictorial surfaces, creating plays of chiaroscuro that highlight details and contrasts without being invasive, contributing to a balance between architectural rigor and contemporary sensibility. In this context, the exhibition is proposed as a harmonious and measured intervention in which the works do not interrupt the silence of the Pieve, but animate it by establishing a profound dialogue with the space; within the essential and material building, the paintings seem to fit in naturally, as if they have always belonged to that place, letting the relationship between sign and stone become the focus of the experience, transforming the visit into an intimate and contemplative moment.
The exhibition itinerary is enhanced by a video projection placed in the apse of the Pieve, where Pericoli’s visual narrative is amplified by the austere atmosphere of the building. During the opening days of Saturday, March 28 and Sunday, March 29, guided tours will be provided by the FAI Valle Camonica e Sebino Group, while the opening on Saturday, March 28 at 11:30 a.m. will feature Tullio Pericoli and Salvatore Settis, with narrative accompaniment by the local FAI group. On weekends, during opening hours, visitors will be able to enjoy critical support to the itinerary thanks to the presence of young scholars and undergraduates in Art History. The Camonica Valley Federation of Tourist Guides will also organize midweek guided tours that will include, in addition to the parish church and the exhibition, the Seradina and Bedolina Archaeological Park and the Camonica Valley Museum of Prehistory, with the involvement of the Lombardy Regional Museums Directorate.
Completing the initiative is the publication of a catalog edited by Moebius, with a critical essay by Salvatore Settis.
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| In Val Camonica, Tullio Pericoli confronts rock art, in the Pieve di San Siro |
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