Francesco Cavaliere, Enzo Cucchi

"Sussi and Biribissi" is a humorous book for children and young readers written by Paolo Lorenzini (the nephew of the more famous Carlo Lorenzini, known as Carlo Collodi), first published in 1902. Its subtitle, *"Story of a Journey to the Center of the Earth,"* refers to Jules Verne’s novel *Journey to the Center of the Earth*. The two young protagonists, one short and chubby, the other tall and thin, are fascinated by the adventures described in Verne's book and decide to retrace the mysterious journey, starting from the sewers of Florence.

“Listen, my dear Sussi, pay close attention to what I’m about to tell you: One of the windows in my house overlooks this courtyard, and from the window, I discovered this hole yesterday. I came here, opened it, and climbed inside to make a little exploration. At the end of a narrow corridor, there’s a large, long pit that never seems to end, which keeps going down, down, and down. I bet you that by going through it, we’d go straight to the center of the Earth.”

These two characters, protagonists of a literature that reinvents itself by inhabiting dialectal languages and villages, lead us to the works of Cavaliere and Cucchi. While working with different methods and languages, they share a poetic affinity that functions as a conceptual and imaginative extension of their works. These parallel narrative tools or key elements enable us to enter their universes.

On one hand, Francesco Cavaliere guides us into a cosmic, paradoxical language, while in Enzo Cucchi’s works, we encounter symbols and visions. What we can do in this exhibition is allow ourselves to be led into the world that Cavaliere and Cucchi traverse with poetry, wordplay, and the evocative titles of their works.

‍

PRESS: 

https://www.ilgiornaledellarte.com/Mostre/Il-bel-ritorno-di-Enzo-Cucchi

https://www.ilgiornaledellarte.com/Articolo/Dove-sono-le-gallerie-italiane

‍

‍