"Francesco Ciusa. The Shape of Myth" is the title of the new exhibition hosted at Spazio Ilisso in Nuoro from September 13, 2025, to April 5, 2026. It will open on Saturday the 13th at 6:00 PM at Spazio Ilisso and will be open daily from 10:00 AM to 1:00 PM and from 3:00 PM to 8:00 PM, except Wednesdays. Curated by art historian Elena Pontiggia, the exhibition aims to bring national and international attention to an artist often relegated to the regional sphere.
Ninety works are on display, an idea that is also taking shape following the new monograph published by Ilisso in December 2024, featuring new studies on a unique artist, considered the first Sardinian sculptor of the twentieth century. Francesco Ciusa, born in Nuoro in 1883 and died in Cagliari in 1949, succeeded in blending realism and symbolism in his work, connecting Sardinia and human history, emotions and hopes.
<p>Culture. Ciusa Spazio Ilisso</p>The then very young Ciusa captured attention at the 1907 Venice Biennale with The Mother of the Murdered Man, which brought Sardinian culture to national attention. Critics hailed him as the "Sardinian artist" par excellence, a transformative figure in the island's artistic world, a pioneering artist. The exhibition features 90 works, including sculptures, ceramics, applied art, and graphic works. It is the most important exhibition to date in terms of the number of works on display, tracing Ciusa's entire creative career, from his large-scale statuary, including The Mother of the Murdered Man, Bread, The Cainite, The Spinner, The Nomad, The Kiss, The Sardinian Amphora, and The Slinger, to lesser-known works from valuable public and private collections.
The exhibition focuses on his modernity, from his technical innovation with ceramics and serial production to his ability to translate universal cultural concepts and emotions that gave him the courage to emerge from the island, but also the strength to remain. However, "Despite his dazzling start, Ciusa's name is less well-known outside the island than it deserves," say the organizers. "Therefore, the exhibition aims to restore visibility to his work and encourage renewed critical attention to an artist who, over a century later, appears remarkably modern in his research, which draws on ancient values." This is therefore a multi-faceted cultural project, in which the exhibition, designed by architect Antonello Cuccu, is also enriched by a catalogue and a documentary film created for the occasion by Enrico Pinna.
