A wonderful holiday in Piedmont
CIN: IT006048C2ZHUJ9J4I
From Casa Mumu · Piedmont · Italy
Two sculptures by a young artist from Castelletto d'Erro give the garden of Casa Mumu a soul of its own.
Two guardians by the driveway
Anyone walking up the driveway to Casa Mumu is greeted, without quite realising it at first, by two guardians. Up on the slope, gazing out over the valley, stands a wolf of rusting iron. Down by the pool, half hidden among the oleanders, blooms a flower that never wilts. Both are the work of Gualtiero Fulvio Caiafa — an artist with roots right here, in Castelletto d'Erro.
An artist with two lives
Gualtiero is young, in a way you don't often come across: hands-on and a dreamer at once. By day he restores old buildings and tends gardens in the area — honest work that pays the bills. He recently completed a degree in social work, too.
But to really understand him, you have to look at his other life: that of a poet and sculptor, in which wood and iron are given a second life as silhouettes that carry something unmistakably human.
Four years of thought for one silhouette
The wood Gualtiero works with, he gathers himself out in nature — or it finds its way to him. Friends who come across a branch or root with an unusual shape on a walk know by now to bring it to him. Gualtiero studies the piece, turns it over, sets it aside, looks at it again weeks later.
Sometimes it takes four years before he knows what the silhouette wants to become — and only then is it finished. The iron he collects from farmers in the area: old parts, tool fragments, always searching for a shape that already half tells a story before he touches it.
The wolf and the flower of Casa Mumu
For Casa Mumu, Gualtiero created two works especially. The wolf stands on the slope above the house: watchful, the valley at his feet, as if he has guarded that spot for years.
By the pool, among the oleanders, stands his counterpart — an iron flower that settles into the planting so naturally that many guests only discover it after a few days. Together they form a quiet dialogue between wilderness and garden, between watching and blooming.
From the studio in Acqui Terme to the stage
Anyone wanting to see more of Gualtiero's work can visit his small studio in Acqui Terme. Part of his collection is on display there, and he regularly welcomes visitors.
Besides sculptor, he is also a poet and performer: he appears at local art and poetry evenings, always with a story behind every piece. His work has already won two important prizes, and with his talent, discipline and imagination, a bright future still lies ahead of him.
Want to see more of Gualtiero's work, or follow him? Visit his Facebook page.
Walk down the steps to the pool, or look up the hill from the terrace — and take a moment for the wolf and the flower.
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