Grazia Deledda and 20th-Century Art: A Conference in Castelsardo

Literature and the visual arts converge in Castelsardo under the banner of Grazia Deledda. On Saturday, September 19, the Doria Castle will host the conference "Painting with Words. Grazia Deledda and Twentieth-Century Art," organized by the Municipality in collaboration with the In Schibboleth association. The conference is closely linked to the exhibition "Return to the Twentieth Century. 20th-Century Sardinian Art – The De Montis Collection," currently on display at the castle until September 23. The conference's scientific direction is entrusted to Angela Guiso, author of numerous studies on Grazia Deledda and other protagonists of contemporary Italian literature, and co-editor, with Virginia A. Picchietti of the University of Scranton (USA), of the volume "Grazia Deledda's Painterly Aesthetic," the only work published in 2025 in America, which analyzes Deledda's literary production from an artistic perspective. The conference will bring together leading figures from the worlds of scholarship, academia, and the arts. The day will consist of a morning session (9:30, 12:30) and an afternoon session (15:30, 16:30). Speakers will include Davide Mariani, from the Academy of Fine Arts of Sassari; Angela Guiso; Efisio Carbone, from the ISRE museum complex; Duilio Caocci and Clara Incani Carta, from the University of Cagliari; and visual artist Igino Panzino. The day will be moderated by Federico Piras. "On the centenary of the Nobel Prize," commented Mayor Maria Lucia Tirotto, "we believe that Sardinia should spare no effort in promoting awareness and appreciation of the work of Grazia Deledda, the only Italian writer to have received the Nobel Prize for Literature and still not consistently present, as she deserves, in the education of new generations. Castelsardo wants to contribute by re-examining, from different perspectives, the modernity and richness of her work." "The presence of works by twentieth-century masters at the Castle," emphasizes Councilor for Culture Maria Speranza Frassetto, "allows us to reread Deledda within the cultural and figurative climate of her time. Words and images contribute to the construction of an imaginary Sardinia that, precisely in those years, was confronting modernity and opening up to a European dimension."