RI-NASCITA Festival - Art that Heals

A festival dedicated to art that heals

The RI-NASCITA Art and Culture Festival is the event that brings the Civic Museum of Maddaloni to life, located in the municipality of Maddaloni, in the province of Caserta, in the heart of Campania. Established in 2025 and reaching its second edition in 2026, the festival is organized and promoted by the Aspri d'Autore APS association and selects a theme each year to serve as a common thread for exhibitions, meetings, and performances. For 2026, the theme is Art that Heals: an idea that highlights the therapeutic and emotional value of artistic expression, capable of rebuilding bonds, memory, and trust.

Artistic direction and curation

The artistic direction is entrusted to Ottavia Patrizia Santo, vice-president of the promoting association, supported by Professor Mino Iorio, art critic and historian. The stated goal is to promote art and culture in the region through a network of artists and industry professionals and the cross-pollination of different languages: painting, photography, sculpture, literature, theater, and social commitment coexist within the same exhibition path.

Exhibitions and artists

The core of the event is the major contemporary art collective set up in the museum's halls, which brings together over twenty painters along with photographers and sculptors. Names featured in the 2026 edition include: Anna Poerio Riservo, Anna Scarcella, Agnese Violetta, Antonella Sirignano, Antonio Roviello, Carmela Infante, Cristina Flaviano, Daniela Capuano, Francesca Del Prete, Giuseppe Caputo, Giovanna Giordano, Leonilda Fappiano, Lorenzo Di Marino, Michela Orefice, Paola Paesano, Pasquale Zaccarella, Pina Candileno, Rosa Arbolino, Rosaria Gentile, Rosalia Vigliotti, Stefy Lucy Cavaiuolo, Sara Granà, Vincenzo Faraldo, and Vincenzo Piatto for painting; Clementina Vasturzo, Mina Fiore, and Paolo Lizzi for photography; Mimmo Santacroce, Michelangelo Cice, and Salvatore Di Captrio for sculpture.

Schools, performances, and historical costumes

An important part of the festival is entrusted to young people. The Don Gnocchi High School of Maddaloni participates with the artistic performance Community for Peace, created by students under the artistic direction of Professor Antonio Capuano and Professor Rosanna De Lucia. The museum spaces also host historical costumes linked to Maddaloni culture, revisited in a modern key by the institute's students: a dialogue between local memory and a contemporary perspective that has already become one of the festival's recognizable traits. The Manzoni High School also collaborates on the project.

Literature, legality, and social commitment

Alongside the visual arts, RI-NASCITA reserves ample space for the written word and civil debate. The detective novel Marlena sulla spiaggia by Gaetano Ippolito becomes the starting point for a meeting that combines narrative and security themes, with readings by poet Maria Pia Dell'Olmo. The festival benefits from the collaboration of numerous associations and institutional entities: Lions Club Maddaloni Calatia, NSC Campania, Medea OdV, and the UNICEF Committee of Caserta, with the patronage of the Province of Caserta and the support of the Municipality of Maddaloni. Inclusion, solidarity, and active citizenship are not accessory themes but an integral part of the program.

The Civic Museum, the setting of the event

The venue is part of the experience itself: the Civic Museum of Maddaloni occupies the ancient Santa Maria dei Raccomandati monastic complex, founded in the 16th century by Diomede Carafa, the first Duke of Maddaloni, and preserves collections of archaeology, art, and anthropology linked to ancient Calatia and the local ceramic tradition. Seeing contemporary art engage with this heritage is one of the reasons that make the visit interesting even for those arriving from outside the province.

An event open to everyone

• Completely free admission to exhibitions, meetings, and presentations
• Over thirty painters, photographers, and sculptors on display
• Performances and projects created by local students
• Literary meetings, debates, and artist testimonials
• A final conference with the delivery of participation certificates

In the cultural calendar of the Terra di Lavoro, the RI-NASCITA Festival is carving out a role as a spring event capable of networking artists, schools, and associations in the province of Caserta, in a Campania that continues to tell its story even outside the major circuits.