L'Italo-Americano

L'Italo-Americano THURSDAY, OCTOBER 17, 2019 www.italoamericano.org 4 FRANCESCA BEZZONE NEWS & FEATURES TOP STORIES PEOPLE EVENTS When tradition becomes art: the Figli d'Arte Cuticchio and the world of the Opera dei Pupi A rt has a thousand shapes, a thousand colors, a thousand scents. There is no work of art that doesn't run through more than one of our senses, creating a direct path to the soul. The colors of a painting all have a smell: that of tempera and pigment, of course, but also those each of us associates with them. Blue smells of salt, because of the ocean, red is sugar and iron, because it's passion, but also blood. Green is grass, white is the clear smell of ice and snow. Think about it: it's just like that. And then, there are forms of art created with several types of art: music and singing, painting and writing, soul and matter. The Opera dei Pupi, Sicily's traditio- nal marionettes' theatre, is cer- tainly one of them. In it, we find the plastic, sculptural shapes of the pupi, their colors filled with symbolism, the manual ability of pupari and the thousand fantastic tales they tell us: they themselves are sheer poetic art, imbued with history and coming from a past as Sicilian as it can be. Then, we have the storyteller, the cuntore, with a voice which is music and rhythm, a methodic melody of letters and words, a door open on extraordinary adventures, but also on the most delicate, fragile, hidden part of our being. It's easy to see, then, why the Opera dei Pupi became part of the UNESCO Intangible Heritage List: it's a spiritual art, made using history and craftsmanship as creative instruments. In the world of Sicilian pupa- ri, one family stands from all others: the Cuticchio family. Since the 1930s, they have been keeping the pupi tradition alive, even when it seemed like the world couldn't care less for storytellers and their beautiful marionettes. Mimmo Cuticchio, the Associazione I Figli d'Arte Cuticchio's maestro, didn't only follow up on his father's Giacomo's steps, but brought at the heart of his — and his asso- ciation's — work the idea of educating future generations to the beauty of this old and unique art. We of L'Italo-Americano had the pleasure and honor to have a chat with Elisa Puleo Cuticchio, herself an important member of the family associa- tion who, with her words, led us through a world made of knights, artists and minstrels, truly pre- cious and exceptional, that we all should get to know more. The Teatro dei Pupi is a family tradition for the Cuticchios: tell us something about how you became pupari. Everything started with Giacomo Cuticchio, class 1917, the father of Mimmo Cuticchio. His passion for pupi started when he was a child and began visiting often the theatre of the Grecos, a notable family of pupari. In 1933, Giacomo deci- ded to open his own theatre, in Palermo's Via Juvara. Then, during the War, he begins trave- ling through the island, bringing his itinerant shows all over Sicily, along with his wife Pina Patti. The two of them were to have seven children, all of them to become, in a way or another, part of the family activity. In 1969, Giacomo and his family finally decide to settle again in Palermo, where they opened their teatro dei pupi, L'Ippogrifo. When Giacomo passed away in 1985, his eldest son Mimmo already had an independent career. Mimmo didn't only want to be a puparo, an artist, he wanted to teach what he knew to the younger generations, so that the amazing art of pupi could live. This is why, in 1971, he had created the Figli d'Arte Cuticchio. The group was legal- ly recognized as an association in 1977: this was an important moment for the Cuticchios and for the Opera dei Pupi, because it was the first time a troupe of pupari was officially recognized by the State. Today, just like yesterday, our association deals with the artistic, performing and educa- tional aspects of the teatro dei pupi, but also with the craft- smanship behind the art, that related to the production and decoration of marionettes and stage design. Indeed, in 1997 we opened a school for pupari and cuntisti — the storytellers for the Opera dei Pupi — and, since 1985, we've been holding a yearly festival dedicated to the art of pupi, La Macchina dei Sogni (The Dream Machine). In 2001, then, the Teatro dei Pupi became part of the UNE- SCO Intangible Heritage List. That was a pivotal moment for us and for our art as a whole. In spite of UNESCO reco- gnition, the teatro dei pupi remains little known among the wider public. Its essence and poetry, in particular, seem to be lost to many. Can you tell us something more about it? Some say that the real root of the teatro dei pupi is Greek, because they think it comes from the work of ancient puppe- teers operating in Syracuse at the times of Socrates. But the pupi we are familiar with today come from the 1800s. The stories are those of medieval Chivalric Romance, of the kings of France, of the Orlando Furioso (The Frenzy or Orlando) and of the Orlando Innamorato (Orlando in Love). They tell about the wars and bat- tles against the Moors of Spain. Characters recur and events are intertwined and this is visible in the marionettes as well: each character has his or her own color, his or her own special decoration or symbol on the armor and shield. This, too, is part of tradition. The way pupi are made remained unchanged since the 19th century: the body and the head are carved in wood, accor- ding to traditional models, that become unique thanks to the creative work of the puparo. The same is true for the armors, which are entirely handmade using traditional instruments and techniques. Here in Palermo, pupi are about 90 cm tall (3 ft) and weight between 6 and 10 kg (12 to 20 lbs). But they're not the same everywhere: in Catania, for instance, they are taller, they can reach 130 cm (4 1/3 ft) and weight up to 30 kg Maestro Mimmo Cuticchio with his Pupi (Copyright: Città di Parma) Continued to page 6

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