The Cultural Pyramid of Cilento (Italian: Piramide Culturale del Cilento) is a geometric drawing created in 2020 by myself representing the epicenter of the Empathism. The Pyramid shape came out adding the “Cultural Triangle”, I founded previosly, at the historical summits of high cultural tradition of the Cilento area.
– The Triangle inside the Pyramid
The Triangle starts from Omignano (and from Monte Stella) “The Aphorisms Village”, and then joins Salento “The Poetry Village” and Vallo della Lucania “Seat of the Contemporary Center of the Arts”, summit, the latter, which also coincides with the center of the base of the entire Pyramid.
– Mountain and villages involved
The Pyramid vertices are: Monte Stella (Cilento) (with its megaliths which are recognized as the empathic ancient gods of the Movement), Omignano, Salento, Vallo della Lucania, Palinuro, Paestum, Velia. In 2021, with an official paper of the city hall, also Trentinara “The Village of Love” joined.
On 2 August 2022 also Vatolla joined as “The Village of Otium”. On 6 August 2022 also Piano Vetrale joined as “The Murales Village”. In the same month also San Mauro Cilento adhered as “Village of incunaboli e cinquecentine”. In addition Massicelle adhered as “Village of Toys”, while Casal Velino came together as “Landfall Village”. In the end a last village adhered: Agropoli “The Village of the Castle”. The final number of villages involved is twenty five.
– Empathism
Within the “Cultural Triangle of ancient Cilento” the new Movement of “La Scuola Empatica” (Empathism) rose in 2020, which bases its main formal theories on the “New Manifesto of Arts” to which many authors, visual artists, musicians, philosophers and intellectuals joined.
– Removal of the poetic tiles with pickaxes
An incredible event happened with the change of the mayor of Salento Cilento “The Poetry Village” in 2024. In fact, in the first 30 days of his political mandate, without an official paper to justify it, the new mayor Michele Santoro ordered, on the morning of Sunday 7 July, to pull down with pickaxes the tiles with unpublished poetry overwritten dedicated to the Cilento’s territory written as gift by all the winners of the Cilento International Poetry Prize as Milo de Angelis, Dacia Maraini, Valerio Magrelli, Giampiero Neri, Roberto Carifi and from the founder of the Prize and of the Poetry Village. The case became viral and the main televisions and newspapers condemned the uncivil episode occurred. After the medias hype, the Mayor Santoro tried to justify himself affirming that “poetry could not stay on the same wall where there was also a plaque for war fallen”. But the former Mayor Gabriele De Marco said that, in his opinion, the new Mayor Michele Santoro stopped to destroy the tiles in the rest of the village only because everyone had disagreed shouting nonsense and shame for the destruction of art.
On the 23th of July in the second “Foglio Empatico” published on the daily newspaper “Il Quotidiano di Salerno” I confirmed I never will organize cultural events in both Omignano Cilento (“The Aphorisms Village”) and Salento Cilento (“The Poetry Village”), and in particular I never will organize the Cilento International Poetry Prize in Salento Cilento again till these two Mayors will be in charge”. On the 31th of July I published the “Empathic Sheet N°3” praising all the Mayors of the Cilento’s territory helping to develop the Cultural Pyramid, epicenter of the Movement.
– The Pyramid’s Guardians
Also due to the terrible “day of pickaxes”, on the 30th of August 2024, a summit (“Il Convegno di Orria”) was held in Orria Cilento between me, as founder of Empathism, and the so defined “good politicians” of the Cilento territory, in order to discuss strategies of development for the Pyramid and also to appoint the firsts official “Guardiani della Piramide” (In English: “Guardians of the Pyramid”). The group included: Agostino Astore, Mayor of Piano Vetrale “The Murals Village”; Gabriele Iuliano, Mayor of Roccadaspide “The Defense Village”; Gabriele De Marco, former mayor of Salento, Campania “The Poetry Village”; Adriano Piano, Mayor of Magliano Vetere “The Paleontological Village”; Francesco Castiello, Italian Senator. In occasion of the “Convegno di Orria”.
Gabriele De Marco declared that “the Cultural Pyramid is something stratospheric and brillant and therefore can only be valorised decisively. A great dream for a Cilento as the cradle of contemporary culture”.
– The Villages of the Pyramid
MONTE STELLA – “Luogo dei Megaliti”; (“Place of the Megaliths”); Megaliths are considered as empathetic ancient gods.
OMIGNANO – “Paese degli Aforismi”; (“Village of Aphorisms”).
SALENTO – “Paese della Poesia”; (“Village of Poetry”).
VALLO DELLA LUCANIA” – Sede del Centro Contemporaneo delle Arti”; (“Home of the Contemporary Arts Centre”).
ROCCADASPIDE – “Paese della Difesa”; (“Village of Defense”).
TRENTINARA – “Paese dell’Amore”; (“Village of Love”).
MAGLIANO VETERE – “Paese della Paleontologia”; (“Village of Paleontology”).
PIANO VETRALE – “Paese dei Murales”; (Village of Murals).
ALBANELLA – “Paese delle Terre d’Italia”; (“Village of the Lands of Italy”).
AGROPOLI – “Paese del Castello”; (“Village of the Castle”).
VATOLLA – “Paese dell’Otium”; (“Village of Otium”).
MASSICELLE – “Paese del Giocattolo Povero”; (“Village of the Poor Toy”).
PAESTUM – “Paese di Poseidone”; (“Village of Poseidon”).
PALINURO – “Paese del Mito”; (“Village of Myth”).
CASAL VELINO – “Paese dell’Approdo”; (“Village of Landing”). SAPRI – “Paese della Spigolatrice”; (“Village of the Gleaner”).
CENTOLA – “Paese della Contemplazione”; (“Village of Contemplation”).
ELEA-VELIA – “Paese della Filosofia”; (“Village of Philosophy”).
TEGGIANO – “Paese della Principessa Costanza”; (“Village of Princess Costance”).
PADULA – “Paese dei Certosini”; (“Village of Certosini”).
POLLA – “Paese dei Libri”; (“Village of Books”).
SASSANO – “Paese delle Orchidee”; (“Village of Orchids”). SANZA – “Paese dell’Accoglienza”; (“Village of Hospitality”).
MONTESANO – “Paese dell’Acqua”; (“Village of Water”).
SAN MAURO CILENTO – “Paese degli Incunaboli e delle Cinquecentine”; (“Village of the Incunabula and Cinquecentine”).
VIBONATI – “Paese dei Portali”; (“Village of Portals”).
