L'Italo-Americano

THURSDAY, APRIL 6, 2017 www.italoamericano.org 14 L'Italo-Americano KENNETH SCAMBRAY W e made a brief stop at Grassano, one of the two small southern villages where Mussolini exiled Carlo Levi to silence him during the fascist's ruinous reign. But the real story of both Scotellaro and Levi is found in Matera. In Christ Stopped in Eboli Levi, a doctor and painter as well, also wrote briefly about the horrible conditions of Matera's sassi- dwelling contadini. Life in the warren of caves during the first half of the twentieth century was a s m i s e r a b l e a s i t w a s i n Cornelisen's and Scotellaro's T r i c a r i c o . L i v i n g i n t h e i r unhealthful sassi, peasants lived on the brink of starvation in a malaria infested environment. Levi wrote that when he visited Matera in the 1940s, upon learn- ing that he was a doctor, chil- dren would chase him through the streets, not asking for food or money, but for quinine to help alleviate the symptoms of the malaria that ravaged their frail bodies. Matera now serves as the real site of Levi's contribution to the South. The Museo Nationale d'Arte Medievale e Moderna della Basilicata contains more than two dozen of Levi's unique and unconventional portraits of private and public figures. Levi resisted fascist conformity in his art with highly individualized portraits. His subjects' faces are painted in a rainbow of clashing colors. Even more dramatic, in an adjacent room is a more than t h i r t y f o o t l o n g m u r a l , w i t h Levi's full-size portrait at one end and Scotellaro's at the other. Both men are surrounded by peasants. In between are images of village life. This is Levi's tribute to his friend's commit- ment to the poor, as well as a statement about the exploitation of the southern peasant at the hands of an indifferent northern g o v e r n m e n t . H i s m u r a l w a s exactly what Mussolini hoped to suppress in Levi's work. T h o u g h S c o t e l l a r o d i e d young, both his and Levi's writ- ing had their intended conse- quences. They brought sufficient attention to the plight of the peasants in Basilicata. By the early 1950s the Northern gov- ernment built new housing for the sassi-dwelling masses and moved more than fifteen-thou- sand out of their ill-ventilated and unsanitary caves. The new policy did not improve the econ- omy of the region, but at least it relieved some of the suffering t h a t L e v i , S c o t e l l a r o , a n d Cornelisen had documented. Today Matera is a UNESCO World Heritage Site. Its history and poverty contrast markedly with the sassi district's new role as one Italy's most remarkable tourist destinations. Those origi- nal unlivable sassi, ironically, now serve as upscale inns and restaurants. The restored face of the village is dazzling in the a f t e r n o o n s u n a n d s t u n n i n g under the lights flooding the hilltop village at night. But not all of the South's medieval quarters have been lucky enough to be restored and s h a r e i n t h e S o u t h ' s t o u r i s t e c o n o m y . T h e c o n t r a s t w i t h M a t e r a ' s r e s t o r e d s p l e n d o r could not be any greater than in T a r a n t o , w h e r e w e m a d e a n o v e r n i g h t s t o p . T a r a n t o ' s medieval quarter is not so much historical as it is, unfortunately, living history. Unlike Matera, the façade of its medieval quar- ter does not hide its calamitous past. It is a ruin of abandoned buildings and still impoverished r e s i d e n t s . A s P i n o A p r i l e explains in Terroni, the dilapi- dated quarter is a disgraceful symbol of the North's exploita- tion of the South. In the 1960s, under the guise of improving the southern economy, the govern- ment gave oil contracts to large corporations, who polluted the zone, including the beautiful bay, took the money, and ran. They left behind a still impover- ished working class and blighted environment. The pleasure boats in the har- bor and the surrounding modern apartment buildings stand in s t a r k c o n t r a s t t o t h e r u i n e d medieval center. In spite of its poverty, apparently, Taranto has a n e s t a b l i s h e d m i d d l e c l a s s . Likewise, the ornate richness of the baroque Cattedrale di San Cataldo in the center of the quar- ter clashes with the surrounding display of abandoned buildings. Taranto's working class remains lodged in its place at the bottom of the wage scale. In my early morning walk to the dock to observe the state of the fishing industry, a young man attempted to sell me "erba." The only sign of hope for the zone's youth is the university in the middle of it. During a late-night walk through the quarter, I came upon a book store in which a panel discussion was underway on immigration and refugees. In spite of the deep-rooted econom- ic problems that plague Taranto, the town's young people are engaged in the political ques- tions that impact the region. There is an active fishing and shell-fish industry in the bay, which provides some jobs for young people. Otherwise, this inglorious, unrestored medieval quarter stands as a testimony to the failure of the government to address adequately the South's economic woes, which remain in T a r a n t o a n o p e n , f e s t e r i n g wound. Taranto is a reminder that, according to a recent report published in L'Italo-Americano, m o r e t h a n 3 0 % o f s o u t h e r n I t a l i a n s s t i l l l i v e b e l o w t h e poverty line. We also spent three days in Bari, where a large modern quar- ter of commercial and apartment b u i l d i n g s f l a n k a r e s t o r e d , restaurant-filled and bustling m e d i e v a l q u a r t e r . I n t h e evenings, the working class that still inhabits much of the quarter mingles with locals, including legions of young people and adults, from the upscale neigh- b o r h o o d s . O w i n g t o g u i d e books' mistaken warning about the crime in the city, unfortu- nately few foreigners visit the city. O f c o u r s e , i n s p i t e o f t h e problems that still plague parts of the South today, it is a dynam- ic region with a productive coun- tryside and countless historic sites. I would run out of superla- t i v e s a n d s p a c e i f I t r i e d t o describe the final leg of our itin- erary in Puglia, from Otranto, Lecce, Martina Franca, Ostuni, P o l i g n a n o a M a r e , t o T r a n i , G a l l a t i n a , A l b e r o b e l l o , a n d Locorotondo. These towns all require a separate essay. The p e a s a n t s ' T r u l l i h a v e , l i k e Matera's sassi, been turned into elegant resort hotels. Ralph Waldo Emerson once wrote that "traveling is a fool's paradise." But his wise comment is true if tourists seek only par- adise in their travels. Ancient town of Matera, Italy–© jovannig ALL AROUND ITALY TRAVEL TIPS DESTINATIONS ACTIVITIES Southern Italy's Diverse Heritage (part III) Castello Aragonese, Taranto, Puglia, Italy. — Photo by duha127

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