“[…] I come from the south of the sea and mines:
I come from Buggerru and Iglesias,
I come from my father and my mother.
Manlio and Rosanna
they taught me that justice
is when there is no exploitation
and the daily bread does not remain
a little piece of prayer. […]
Riccardo Massole, cantor of a land as hard as Sardinia and poet son of art, will come to Trentino and talk about himself on Saturday 25 June 2022 at the Kunst Grenzen – Frontier Art gallery in Rovere ‘della Luna (Trento, Italy).
“Riccardo Massole: poetry” is an event curated by the international artist Mrs. Mirta De Simoni in collaboration with the Cultural Association Kunst Grenzen – Frontier Art aps, Municipality and Pro Loco of Rovere ‘della Luna, Cassa Rurale Rotaliana and Giovo, Event Art and RMT – Radio Music Trento by Vito Nomade.
There is a deep emotional bond with his family roots, a strong bond with his land that knows of the hardships of the mines, of narrowness but also of wild natural beauty.
The poet draws inspiration from his mother Rosanna, lighthouse and port of his existence, and from the example and willpower of a father, Manlio, who after fifteen years of teaching becomes a miner for the next twenty years to be able to fully understand the living conditions of his pupils and therefore how to overcome their daily pedagogical difficulties.
“During his working span he produced his best poems and allowed me to appreciate poetry in life.” (R.M.)
For Riccardo, poetry helps him to investigate himself and to communicate with the reader:
“Poetry is close to the fundamental things in life: death, pain, joy, intensity”
and when it happens that the reader recognizes himself in his writings, the beautiful miracle of finding oneself, of meeting each other occurs; but it also has a political function in that it is responsible for the language: while a politician uses the word to demagogically veil the original meaning, with poetry the word regains its true meaning.
Even in the longest expressions, Riccardo Massole returns with the lines to the essential, thoughts immediately arrive at the central concept following Leonardo Sciascia’s technical advice of “removing”, which is the most difficult act for a writer.
“Poetry educates me to stop, for example, at the table, before being full, because one verse must not overwhelm the other. Because neither crumbs nor drops are wasted with greed. Poetry educates me not to give up anything essential. ”
In the collection “Untitled Poems” (Original title: “Poesie senza titolo”), collected and published by Bertoni editions in 2019, even the absence of a heading to the verses is typical of the search for essentiality:
“The title is like putting the cap on a bottle and the interpretation.”
but also of freedom given to the reader to find meaning according to his own sensitivity.
And the sensitivity of the author himself opens up the lines to a punctual but delicate poetic narration, an example of which follows:
“Ask a child, a drop of dew
Ask for news of dawn
Ask the hand that saved you when you were moon in the well
And you will know more truth about love than by reading entire libraries
Do not question papers or scholars about what life is
He couldn’t tell you how you need to know
Ask a child, that almond tree in bloom
That he looks so much like him. “
And Riccardo Massole touches the modesty of not self-defining himself as a “poet” thinking of the greats of the past and of the poets he often loves to re-read such as Caproni, Pasolini and Penna, a sensitivity that guides the hand to tell with synthetic simplicity of the hard Sardinian life:
“I come from the south of the sea and mines.
I was brought up by sudden storms
and from the darkness to go through.
I saved myself from misery
of selfishness thanks to the language
of the miners fighting
even for the last man who lived […] “
Saturday 25 June 2022, therefore, an appointment not to be missed at the Hall of the Kunst Grenzen-Frontier Art Cultural Association with “Riccardo Massole: poetry”, curated by the artist Mirta De Simoni. The event will open its doors to the public from 7.00 pm, with free admission. Refreshments with the artists will follow.
The Kunst Grenzen Room is in Rovere ‘della Luna (IT- 38030 Trento) in Villotta Str. 7 / a and has no architectural barriers, so it is easily accessible even for people with walking difficulties.
For more information, you can contact the Association:
kunstgrenzen20artedifrontiera@gmail.com
Tel. 335 6079154 Mr. Gentile Polo, President Kunst Grenzen
(In the photo: the Sardinian poet Riccardo Massole, in the center, with Lucia Martorelli and the artists Mirta De Simoni, in red, and Gentile Polo)
(Art. Complete: Lucia Martorelli, Gentile Polo art studio and Kunst Grenzen – Frontier Art aps, of 8 June 2022)