Discover Italian excellence: The artist keeping Sicilian folk painting alive
Unveiling Italian Excellence
11/10/2023
Follow "Faces and Stories of Italian Excellence" and embark on a virtual journey to learn about the art of ancient crafts.
Tradition is everything to Alice Valenti, particularly the unique folk art traditions of Sicily. For generations, residents of Italy's largest island have been painting horse-drawn carts used for transporting goods, adorning them with bright, colourful images designed to ward off evil, bring good fortune, and capture the people's history.
A native of Sicily, Valenti was captivated by these wagons as a child because they represented a simpler way of life that was rapidly disappearing. After leaving home to attend university, she came back with a mission to preserve this artistic tradition—and the passion to share it with the world. In this edition of Italian Stories, Valenti brings viewers into her atelier while sharing the source of her inspiration and the artisans who helped her develop her skills.
She decided to focus on Sicilian cart painting for its wealth of creative opportunities. Her career got a boost thanks to an internship with one of the greatest living Sicilian cart painters, Domenico Di Mauro. Valenti's interest in cart painting grew to include boat painting, with help from the prominent Sicilian Rodolico family.
While many of Valenti's designs echo those of a century ago, she updates them to reflect contemporary tastes, which she says is essential to keeping the tradition alive. Embark on a virtual journey through the legends and popular traditions of Sicilian artistic heritage and learn all about Sicilian folk painting with the artist Alice Valenti.
Visit Priceless.com to see more examples of excellence in artisanship with Italian Stories.
