Giuseppe Caccavale and Stefano Gervasoni unveil 'Muro Sonoro' at IIC Paris

On May 26, 2016, the Italian Cultural Institute in Paris inaugurated 'Muro Sonoro,' a multimodal installation by artist Giuseppe Caccavale and composer Stefano Gervasoni, created on the access wall of Hôtel Galliffet. The work combines incised poetry—Leopardi's 'Canto notturno di un pastore errante dell'Asia' and four other lyrical compositions by Alfonso Gatto, Leonardo Sinisgalli, Lorenzo Calogero, and Bartolo Cattafi—with electroacoustic sound compositions by Gervasoni that incorporate installation noises and spoken word, generating ever-changing combinations. Voices of mezzo-soprano Monica Bacelli and Caccavale himself emerge from the wall. The installation uses movable type designed by Alberto Tallone during his apprenticeship on Île Saint-Louis, reinforcing the theme of linguistic estrangement, as the work was realized with former Ensad students who do not know Italian. Institute director Marina Valensise described her role as 'director' of the project while respecting artistic autonomy. The work aims to give voice to Italy and centuries of emigration. An inaugural concert featured Bacelli, pianist Giulio Biddau, and live electronics by Alvise Vidolin and Marco Liuni, performing Luigi Nono's 'La Fabbrica Illuminata' and Gervasoni's 'Fu verso o fu inverno.'