Modica, the icons of profane time by Ilde Barone

Large and engaged crowd at the inauguration of “SANTI – icons for a profane time”, the new solo exhibition by Ilde Barone set up in the exhibition spaces of Modica.

The opening confirmed the public's interest in a project that engages with contemporary spiritual sensitivity, combining formal research and inner reflection.

The exhibition path reinterprets the iconographic tradition of saints through a radically human perspective. The figures – Saint Agatha, Saint Francis, Saint Lucia, Saint Hildegard, Saint Peter, Saint Rita, Saint Rosalia, Saint Joseph, Saint Corrado, Saint Michael the Archangel, Saint Anthony, Saint Catherine, the Madonna, and Saint George – emerge as close and vulnerable presences, returned to the condition of men and women traversed by conflicts, choices, and responsibilities.

As noted during the opening night by art critic Mariateresa Zagone, “the sacred does not impose itself from above, but emerges from human experience, becoming a space of relationship and awareness”.

The setup is configured as an immersive environment in which painting, sound, and moving images work together to create an enveloping experience.

Alongside the visual component, the sound project by Marco Cascone offers a composition in multiple sections, each associated with a work. Each figure generates its own musical imprint, autonomous yet integrated into a broader tapestry: a polyphonic fabric that completes itself in the overall listening experience.

The diffusion of sound in the space, calibrated to the arrangement of the paintings, makes the experience dynamic: the movement of visitors continuously alters the acoustic perception.

As an integration of the path, the screening of the documentary “Vasa Vasa” by director Alessia Scarso, dedicated to the Modican Easter tradition, introduces an additional interpretive level, relating collective memory, popular ritual, and interiority.

In an age where images risk losing depth, “SANTI – icons for a profane time” offers a counterpoint: to subtract, to reduce to the essential, to slow down the gaze. The works do not solicit ritual devotion, but rather a mindful attention, restoring to the icon a renewed function, capable of questioning the present.

On the sidelines of the exhibition, a participatory device invites interaction: a rosary inspired by the iconography of the installation offers the opportunity for a gentle and symbolic gesture, an invitation to “become saints” for a moment, transforming the visit into a shared moment.