Luigi Lineri: The Stone Collector of the Adige River

For over 52 years, Luigi Lineri, a self-taught poet and artist from Zevio near Verona, has amassed a vast collection of stones from the Adige River, which he interprets as ancient artifacts and living entities. His obsession began in 1963 when he found a stone with a hole, sparking a lifelong study of repetitive forms. Lineri, often dismissed as eccentric, is now recognized within outsider art. In 2007, Paolo Mucciarelli and Enrico Ranzanici made a short documentary about him. In 2014, Sara Pigozzo and Enrico Meneghelli released "Outsiders. Storie dal fiume," which won first prize at Etnofilmfest 2015. A new film by Giuseppe Petruzzellis, produced by Aplysia and Linèria, is expected in 2016. On July 24, 2015, the band I Salici will perform a live soundtrack to a film fragment at the AESON festival in Parco dell'Isonzo, Fiumicello, Udine, followed by a conversation with Petruzzellis and production manager Lisa Fierro. Lineri views his collection as a poem, with each stone a letter, and is currently focusing on organizing his findings.