In a few days he will be on the stage of the Manzoni theater in Milan, as a showman, for a conference on Canova. «Always around Italy – Vittorio Sgarbi tells us – to protect and talk about our artistic treasures. It's the flow of my life. I never get tired." He gets fired up when he remembers the Sardinian artist Brancaleone Cugusi da Romana twenty years after his rediscovery, thanks to the art critic from Ferrara who dedicated two extraordinary exhibitions to him in 2004 in Cagliari (at the Exmà) and in Sassari (Masedu museum). «He is a great painter. He had difficult events. He hoped for the exhibition at the Permanente in Milan but he died the week before. Somehow I fulfilled its destiny, with the exhibitions in Cagliari and Sassari. A very pure talent without folklore components. It has a solemnity that makes the Sardinian dimension universal."

How to renew his memory?

«I thought about taking it, after 20 years, to the Mart in Rovereto, the most important Italian museum of modern art of which I am president. I want to set up an exhibition to give prestige to the artist with the highest European profile, together with Giuseppe Biasi. A little-known genius in Sardinia. Let alone in Italy. The Sardinian world will be very present at Mart in the coming months."

In which way?

«Between 1924 and 1925 three great Sardinians will come to the fore. Costantino Nivola, in dialogue with Antonio Canova, juxtaposition between sculptors, Salvatore Fancello together with Leoncillo, ceramists in comparison, and, indeed, the exhibition dedicated to Brancaleone da Romana on the twentieth anniversary of his rebirth».

He must also think about Arpino, the town of which he is mayor.

«It has a high cultural dignity in memory of Cicero, his illustrious son. It is easy to indulge this vocation which brings the community to the attention of the world. Problems arise with issues related to administrative routine which waste a lot of time."

He often comes to Sardinia, he is no longer a tourist.

«A long, very solid relationship that has gradually strengthened since I was elected deputy on the island 32 years ago. At that moment I thought that I could not become a "Sardinian" parliamentarian without having a debt of gratitude and commitment that I have tried to honor in recent years by promoting and organizing many artistic and cultural initiatives. But let me send you a message that I care about on the eve of a very important electoral appointment for Sardinia."

Which message?

«The electoral campaign raises a question of principle. Sardinia's autonomy identifies a nation. It is necessary for the next president to keep in mind the concept that autonomy means autonomy of the region and autonomy of the municipalities. There is a risk that the most important resources of Sardinia, landscape, nature and the civilization of the nuraghi, a civilization linked to the earth, could be distorted forever by wild wind energy."

What should the next president do?

«Decisions on wind farms, which risk compromising environmental and cultural balances, are not up to Rome. These are decisions that concern the identity of the Island and on which its development depends. When I was undersecretary of culture I received a large delegation of Sardinian mayors. I supported and supported their battle: to prevent not only the monuments but also the landscape from being devastated. The Government of Sardinia cannot bow to the executive in Rome. There are two things to claim: the primacy of mayors and the primacy of autonomy. More than a political theme, it is an identity issue."

How do you find energy?

«It's the love of art that keeps me alive. And the need for its protection. With the story on TV and in theaters, we then pass on values that are the foundation of our civilization."

Massimiliano Rais

© Riproduzione riservata