Fabrizio Bellomo's 'Villaggio Cavatrulli' Explores Apulia's Quarry Landscape

Fabrizio Bellomo's artist guide 'Villaggio Cavatrulli' (CentroDi, 2019) presents Apulia as a single large sculpture shaped by centuries of quarrying. The volume, part of the series curated by Giacomo Zaganelli and Alberto Salvadori, documents the region's cave landscapes and the labor of 'cavamonti' (mountain diggers). Bellomo's work was selected for the Italian Pavilion at the 2018 Venice Architecture Biennale by Mario Cucinella. The book includes contributions from Ugo La Pietra, who created public stone installations in Cursi, Salento. Bellomo describes his relationship with the quarries as inevitable, having spent summers since childhood in former coastal extraction sites like the cave of Egnazia. He contrasts the natural, unselfconscious use of coastal quarries with greater awareness of inland ones due to their scale. Recent projects include a public installation in Bari titled '11 Messaggi Speciali' honoring Radio Bari, and an exhibition at Fundació Enric Miralles in Barcelona curated by Ilaria Speri and Massimo Torrigiani. Upcoming events include Unseen Amsterdam with Metronom gallery, and a Milan show at Office Project Room. Bellomo teaches at the Accademia di Belle Arti di Lecce.