When Light Becomes Community. Artist Marinella Senatore Tells Us About Her Exhibition in a Puglian Masseria

Italian artist Marinella Senatore presents her first solo exhibition in Puglia, "We Rise By Lifting Others," at Masseria Torre Maizza from May 29 to September 8, 2026. Curated by Raffaele Quattrone and developed for Rocco Forte Hotels, the show transforms the masseria into an immersive journey where six light installations dialogue with the region's tradition of luminarie (festive light displays) and themes of community and collective memory. In an interview, Senatore explains that her luminous architectures are not merely decorative but serve as emotional, social, and political devices that activate real encounters and belonging in an era of hyper-individualism and digital dematerialization.

The exhibition matters because it reframes hospitality spaces as symbolic public squares, using the vernacular language of Southern Italian light festivals to foster genuine collective participation. Senatore's work challenges the contemporary drift toward fragmentation and competition, proposing art as a concrete tool for building temporary communities, empathy, and mutual support. By situating this project in Puglia—a region with deep ties to ritual and public celebration—the show underscores how cultural forms can still produce meaningful social engagement, making a radical case for interdependence over individualism in today's art world and beyond.