Picciafuoco

Picciafuoco, the breath of Galloforie

Picciafuoco is much more than an event: it is a collective ritual that turns fire into an occasion for meeting, art, and civic participation in the heart of Rutigliano, in the province of Bari, in the heart of Puglia. For three days, Piazza Colamussi, in the historic centre, becomes the stage for a practice that is both ancient and new: the construction, firing, and opening of a monumental kiln made of raw earth and glass, handcrafted by citizens, artists, artisans, and volunteers.

The Galloforie project

Picciafuoco was born within Galloforie, the Open-Air Museum of the Terracotta Whistle in Rutigliano, promoted by the association APS LUP – Laboratorio Urbano Paese. The project responds to a cultural and economic crisis in local craftsmanship—the closure of historic workshops and the difficulty of passing down trades—by bringing together "old stories and young forms, ancient terracotta working rituals, and new hands." Rutigliano has been the Apulian capital of the terracotta whistle for centuries, and Galloforie relaunches its memory by transforming the city into a widespread museum route. Each edition of Picciafuoco produces a new public work that becomes part of the museum's permanent heritage.

The kiln ritual

The heart of the event is the collective construction of a temporary furnace, mixed with the earth of Rutigliano and recycled glass bottles. The kiln is erected on the first day, fired and brought to very high temperatures on the second, and finally opened on the third, when the work kept inside is unveiled to the community. Guiding the technical and symbolic gesture is the mastro picciafuoco (master fire-maker), a figure who coordinates the firing phases like an ancient master of fire ceremonies.

Art, community, and civic memory

Over the years, Picciafuoco has also taken on a strong dimension of civic engagement: terracotta becomes a contemporary language to speak about current events, rights, and memory. Alongside the clay working, there is space for photographic exhibitions, poetry readings, live music, and testimonies, in an interweaving of tradition and reflection on the present. The event is free to enter and invites everyone to participate, from the expert hands of elderly potters to children and passing visitors.

Why it is worth attending

• Witness the live birth of a terracotta work of art, from the lit kiln to the final opening.
• Discover the centuries-old tradition of the Rutigliano terracotta whistle and the Galloforie museum project.
• Experience the historic centre of Piazza Colamussi amidst music, poetry, exhibitions, and conviviality.
• Take part in a collective ritual open to the entire community.