Pietro Scampini

By 2005, Pietro had come to a stage in his career where he felt the urge to express the universality of art and its inimitable ability to break down all barriers. During one of his many journeys to Africa, he had the idea of establishing an artistic partership to promote an exchange between two ostensibly diverse continents such as Africa and Europe. This inspiration led to an exibition held in Milan's Refettorio delle Stelline. Five Ndebele women left their homes and moved into a studio in Lombardy to work on a joint project. There, the African artists painted the surfaces of Scampini's geometric wooden sculptures with traditional decorations in vibrant colours. The rich colour palette hosted a pure concentration of reds, yellows,blues, greens and oranges in a heady celebration of colour. Colour met shape, shape met colour. The shape of the sculptures combined with ritualistic Ndebele colours. What rendered the experience unique was that the two cultures come together as equals, without staking any claims or relinquishing their identities. Instead, they both acknowledged the existence of other worlds and itineraries whilst retaining identical status. The result was a process of reciprocal evolution in which neither party sought to imitate or re-elaborate the art of the other. Quite simply, Pietro and the Ndebele artsts succumbed to the seductiveness of art and acquiesced to their respective vocations, so that Pietro tackled an unusual artistic medium and the African artists contended with the hitherto unifamiliar third dimension.