Linea 1201: Angelo Bellobono's itinerant painting residency explores the Apennine ridge

Artist Angelo Bellobono conceived Linea 1201, an itinerant painting residency traversing the 1,201-kilometer Apennine mountain range from Calabria to Liguria. The project began with a solo crossing in summer 2018, followed by a 2019 exhibition at AlbumArte in Rome curated by Elisa Del Prete, and a book produced by Collezione Maramotti. With funding from Fondazione Cultura e Arte Terzo Pilastro Internazionale and production by Nos Visual Art Production, Bellobono expanded the project into four residency stages across the Mainarde, Monte Alpi, Valsamoggia, and Monti della Laga. The final stage in Amatrice, a town emblematic of geological and social fragility, included artists Beatrice Meoni, Chris Rocchegiani, and Davide D'Elia. Each stage set up 'Campo Base' temporary studios for en plein air painting, public hikes, workshops, and dialogues with local experts. Curators Elisa Del Prete and Silvia Litardi organized the program, which aimed to reveal hidden Italy and promote cultural tourism. The pandemic and weather challenges shaped the Amatrice residency, held at Casa della Montagna. Bellobono described painting as an act of decolonization from image overload, while Meoni used a vintage picnic cloth as a motif, Rocchegiani employed micro-perforated fabrics to trace landscapes, and D'Elia focused on the tension between natural and artificial. The project continues Bellobono's long-term exploration of the Mediterranean as a mountain lake and the Apennines as a connective spine.