Disobedience as a symbol of peaceful and dreamy revolt: the allegorical float of Acese Matteo Raciti shakes Viareggio.

In a world that desperately tries to bend us to its wills, staying true to oneself becomes a heroic, almost revolutionary act. A daily act of courage that Matteo Raciti has decided to celebrate with “I won't go down anymore”, the float with which he participated in this year's Viareggio Carnival, winning promotion to the First Category, the result of tireless work and an artistic vision capable of intertwining poetry, civic engagement, and lightness.

A great satisfaction and a well-deserved achievement for the artist from Acireale, who took his first steps in the workshops and construction sites of the historic Sicilian carnival, and then arrived in Tuscany with a degree in Architecture and solid experience behind him, in a city that welcomed him and allowed him to fully express his creativity.

"I already have an idea for next year – Matteo says – but for now I want to enjoy all the joy of these days. These ten years spent in Viareggio have been intense and tiring, but incredibly beautiful, because here I have been able to chase and realize all my dreams."

The central theme of his work is disobedience, told through the pages of “The Baron in the Trees” by Italo Calvino. However, his float is not a simple literary homage.
"It is an invitation to practice a peaceful and dreamy revolt, to resist in a society full of injustices and inhumanity. Among intertwined branches and suspended books, the figure of Cosimo Piovasco di Rondò comes to life, a young nobleman from Liguria who, after a heated family argument, decides to climb a tree and never come down again. An act of extreme freedom, which allows him to observe the world from a new perspective, without ever betraying himself. Just like Cosimo, an indomitable rebel, we are also called to reflect on the possibility of living an authentic existence, even at the cost of going against the tide. It is a discourse that may seem individual, but given the times we live in, it becomes collective. In an era where freedom is constantly questioned, there is more than ever a need for civil disobedience and the courage to oppose a system dominated by capitalism, cruel and senseless wars, and the instrumentalization of ideals and values."

Does the tree that Cosimo climbs awaken memories related to his childhood?
"In my floats, I always try to leave some trace of my life. As a child, I spent my summers between Santa Venerina and Stazzo, having fun building tree houses in the avocado and eucalyptus trees planted by my grandfather, perfect shelters for playing and letting my imagination run wild."

On one side Sicily, on the other Tuscany, how have these two lands shaped his artistic journey?
"Acireale was the cradle of my dreams. I was only five years old, but I remember as if it were yesterday that afternoon when my mother took me to see a Sicilian puppet show. It is thanks to that world made of wood and magic that my boundless love for figure theater, puppets, and marionettes was born. Viareggio, on the other hand, gave me the opportunity to turn that passion into a real profession. Here, the art of floats is not just tradition, but freedom and experimentation, and the skills learned in the workshops can live and breathe well beyond the parades. Two places that represent, therefore, the fundamental poles of my story, united by an invisible thread that crosses time. The same thread that as a child made me sit on the floor at home, flipping through the magazines of the Viareggio Carnival and building small floats out of aluminum foil, Das, and papier-mâché, and that still today continues to move my dreams and nourish my imagination."